There's something in the air

I am beginning to get excited.  Earlier in the week I had a call with my new manager, planning my first week, which seems to be something like:

turn up, no earlier than 10.30am on first day, get all your stuff, then go home for rest of week to get all your induction training completed.  In the meantime, within a couple of days I will get a mentor, one on an active deal, and if I understand it right, I will be bag-carrier for them by way or getting some exposure to the organisation and the processes.

Now, I am not making any grand assumptions or assertions over the differences between Starfleet and NN, though as a first impression, I am quite liking it.  It is good that they do not adopt the "throw them in the deep end, and we will keep those who don't drown" approach of my incumbent, it is good that they will give me some induction, and finally, and most importantly, it is good that they will have me paired up with an experienced colleague within the week.

So, that seems to be shaping up nicely.

In my current role, I am nearing a turning point.  My big deal is at a stage when the hard work has been done.  We are polishing and buffing, trimming and adjusting, but all fairly controlled.  I also now have someone to which I can handover the solution when I leave, which coincides with when the real negotiations will start.  I plan to hand over to him early next week, and he will be in the saddle and I will be supporting as necessary.  I am therefore taking a moment to catch up on reading, clearing my expenses, taking off any personal documents from my work laptop and generally getting myself in a good and clean place to sever my connections, and give up my assets.

This weekend, we are mostly doing our own thing.  Football is off both days.  We are also out to supper at A&E's on Saturday evening, and as I am still on a dry January, it will be an interesting evening, since E particularly likes a drink. 

I hope you have a great weekend, and speak next week.

And . . . relax

Quick update on my week:

• Love the car still.  In fact, if it is possible, love it even more
• Still dry (but may be celebrating tonight, so having 1 day off)
• Work is good fun, if hard work, but getting some great experience and now have a person to handover bid deal to, so that means I will slowly fade out over next couple of weeks
• Weekend is fairly standard: sport AM, chores (clear loft and shed, other dull bits if DIY) out in the evening.  Not sure if Brad and Angelina are coming down for going out, contacting them tonight hopefully
• Dad has had his op, all is well, now they are wanting to know when they can fly, to get back to warmer weather

Have a great weekend, speak next week.

And . . . relax (or at least, try to relax)

We had a fantastic Christmas and New Year.  Lots of family and parties and probably way too much drinking, and definitely too many mince pies.  I am now on a Dry January, and very much cutting back on my food intake.  Oh joy.

First week back.  Starting to lose my interest in things, just at a time that things are hotter than ever.  If I can get over a short-term congestion issue, hand over some of my day job to my very able deputy, then things will be a bit easier, and I will then simply be 100%, or as near as anyone can get to dedicated to a single task in the weird and wonderful world of Starfleet.  In truth, aside from the need to be in the office more, and thus impacting my tight regime of late afternoon naps, it will be a fairly enjoyable task.  The reason for this is that it is one large piece of work, rather than numerous (if there were such a thing as numerously numerous, I would wanting to be using it) pieces of small pieces.  i.e. somewhat more like my new role will be. 

It is, as said before, some good experience, since I have never been involved in something like it, so all good for the betterment of Scobi, it being the "Year of Me" this year, not in any self-aggrandising way, but more that I want to think about me in everything I do, so I am healthier, fitter, happier etc.

On the home front, the rest of the Scobi clan are slowly getting back to normal.  This includes mealtimes, bedtimes, and the overall routine of normal life.  Of course it sucks, but until we have some profound external influence (lottery win, say), it is all we have and we plan to make as best use of it as we can.

Finally, I should tell you about my new car.  It is a Volvo XC60, something we have coveted for a long while, and so a great source of pleasure to us all that we have managed to bag one.  It is a bit bigger than the X1, but still economical.  It will be a great tower, and it is a great ride.  It is very comfortable (now I have both automatic and cruise control), good looking and full of "boys' toys" gadgets.  The include the normal such as leather, sat nav etc. but it also includes a TFT dashboard, which means that you can apply themes to the main controls (speed, revs, power, cruise control settings and the usual bits to show rear heaters etc).  I am favouring the Sport mode for now, but sometimes slip to Elegance when I want a change.  It also had an HDD on which we could load data files, which I think we will use when we plan a long drive, to take our stories and podcasts and all the other bits that used to go on a phone.  It also has silly bits like when you go in to reverse, the nearside mirror dips down so you can see the curb. 

I am very happy with the choice.  The only cloud is a mental one really; to get a really good deal, we had to complete 31st December, so we have the car before the job, which feels like a risk to us.  Just need to luge it through to the start of Feb, then we are on a sound footing.

I hope  you have a great weekend, speak next week.

And . . . relax

Work is hard.  Losing interest, and people have annoyed me this week.  Must be a sign.

XC60 ordered.  Very excited, car of my dreams etc.  Obviously cannot take the place of important stuff like family and football, but pretty close.

Got Strictly Sausage Saturday today.  For those that don't know what this means, I pity you, and I am afraid that I am unable to divulge any more.  Brad and Angelina, plus associated maggots, will be down too, so it should be fun.

My parents are home from Spain, looking very well, and complaining about the cold weather.  Cold huh?  Dad has an op lined up for mid January, and the outcome of that will determine the date they fly back.  They have even contemplated a ferry-to-Bilbao-plus-one-way-car-hire option, so must be serious about getting back to the warmth, the bowling, the lazy lunches and rock bottom prices.

Got Maggot activities of football training, drumming and tennis this morning, then I may have a little nap prior to SSS, just so I am on top form.  Plan to wear silly dance-inspired outfit tonight.  I won't be taking any photos.

That is about it for today.  Have a great weekend, speak next week.

And . . . relax

It has been a busy week.  The large deal* that I am working on has been pretty intense, and doing it has meant I have been neglecting my day job.  Luckily I have a good team, who have been picking up most of the slack, though I have to say that I do seem to be needed for an eye-watering amount of advice**.

I am all vetted and setup with the nn, so am ready to go.  I also nearly have the car sorted out.  I have a very specific car in mind, and have been shifting round the process trying to sort out how to afford it.  I now believe that I have found a way.  This will need to get the final approval from the boss, but if it all comes to pass then I should take possession of it by the end of this year***. 

I am actually rather excited about the car, not that I am really a petrol head or anything, indeed it is going to be diesel, but mainly because it meets all my needs, and some, and it also satisfies the very exacting standards of LO, Maggot 1 and Maggot 2.  The latter two of course are world experts of cars, being avid Top Gear fans.  Want to know the top speed of some car I have never heard of?  They are your men, or boys.

We are off to Brad and Angelina this weekend, which will be very nice.  It is Angelina's birthday and we should have a dandy time.  There is a bit of sport to fit in too each side.

That's about it from me.  Have a great weekend, speak next week.

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* I will probably be able to talk about this in a couple of weeks, without having to then kill myself
** Coz I know too much probably
*** All part of why I can afford it

And . . . relax

Another week passes me by.  Work is very busy, but very interesting actually as I am working on a large piece of work that is complex, confusing, urgent and multi-facetted (how many different ways can I find to say its a stonker), and actually rather a lot of fun as a result.

The only fly in the ointment is my day job, which is slipping as a result, and for which I am getting a bit of heat.  Oh well, never mind.

Home is good.  I am working on a couple of new original mixes which are fun.  We have a lot of football at the weekend, and I have a list of DIY chores that is growing daily.

Happy days.

I hope you have a great weekend, speak next week.

Looking forward . . .

. . . to the weekend.

. . . to starting my new job, probably in February.

. . . to going out with a flourish at Starfleet.

Yes, dear reader, I handed my notice in on Monday, first a call to my Manager, let's call him Mr Angry, followed up by a letter.  So far nothing from Mr A, but that may not be such a surprise for two reasons:

1. He is very busy
2. He did not seem to take it very well.

The latter could be construed as roundabout praise, but really it is much more to do with how it affects him personally, him being responsible for resourcing roles like mine.  With me leaving, it obviously leaves a hole, a hole that, how can we put this politely, is a little larger now that it was two years ago.  It's the beer you see, just can't say no.

I have also started to tell my work colleagues, who have, pretty much unanimously, been very supportive and congratulatory. 

I am now wanting to keep my end up at Starfleet whilst also keeping one eye on my new role, doing all I can to prepare for it, so hoping to get hold of lots of reading material.

On the home front, we have a lads' weekend, since LO is away for 3 nights meeting her friend from Cornwall half way, in Bristol.  It will be 3 days of retail therapy and three nights of cocktails for her I suspect. 

For us lads, it will be relaxing, going to get Maggot 1's bike, a Christmas present that is obviously not such a surprise, and doing the usual sporting endeavours in between.

Have a great weekend, and speak next week.

Nearly time to relax

I finally have my formal job offer from Nnn.  Now it really is "pi$$ or get off the pot" time.

The delay between the elation of verbally being offered it, and this formal step, has caused me to start asking myself some long hard questions.  This is the fluttering of a cautious man's heart rather than any fundamental issues.  Distilling it all down, it is really the fact that I do want a new challenge, but I am concerned what it is going to do to my home life, for my work/life balance, and the knock-on effect on the rest of the family.

In truth, I want change, and any change, even within Starfleet, is likely to disrupt this some.  However, sometimes our childcare challenges are on a knife edge.  Maggot 2 was ill, again, this week, and how would we manage looking after him if my new role requires me to be elsewhere, and I need to be in the office coz I am the new boy, and I also have less "in the bank" with my team and manager to do the "dodgy stuff" like that?

And . . . relax

Another week over.  Potential new job not yet sent out a formal offer, so I am in a holding pattern waiting for it to come through.  In the meantime, there has been an internal article on NN painting it not in the best of lights, which, I have to say, put the willies up me slightly.  I have since had a chat with an ex colleague who works at NN, to find out what it is really like, and he was able to confirm that it is a "nicer" place, that it is not so different from Starfleet, and that the work/life balance challenge is probably about the same there as here.

So not totally one thing or another really.  I also touched on job security, and again, NN is not so different to Starfleet, with routine announcements of job cuts happening alongside recruitment drives.  In truth, this is about (to quote a rather hideous phrase presumably thought up in the HR dungeons)  "de-layering", or to be less euphemistic, getting rid of the commoditised roles and dead wood, and adding to the fine young men and women further up the tree.  So, not sure that I am really any further forward in my overall assessment except that, there as here, the trick is to be climbing up the slippery pole quicker than the redundancy water is rising.

At home, we have the cup final on Sunday.  The team have not had training for a week and a half, so very much need it tomorrow, in readiness for the game, which is midday on Sunday.  Weather permitting, should be fun.

Have a great weekend, and speak next week.

Saving money

I have just rung my broadband provider, since they have put my bill up mid-contract, and the rules dictate that this allows me to cancel if I am not happy.  Today, therefore, I rang to "cancel".  I would have done it actually, since another provider can do a better deal, however the nice lady on the phone was in a benevolent mood and she was able to give me a sizeable discount on my current bill to stay with them, this one including free* calls to mobiles too, which will contain our costs nicely.

Sorted.

We are also "saving it large" (as I think the young people like to say on the corners of the streets on which they like to meet to sing songs and swap football cards) with our new Sparks card.  Oh yes, we know how to live.



We have a fab day in London on Wednesday, meeting up with Brad and Angelina.  We went up the eye, ate food and visited the market at Covent Garden, stopping only to watch a very entertaining magician.

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* I know, there is nothing for free in this world.

And . . . definitely time to relax

Another busy week at work.  We are due a big decision next week about my day job, not for me personally, but for the team, and I guess for Starfleet.  Will they, won't they?

On a personal-business level, I have only been and gone and done it.  I have verbally accepted an offer, which needs to be put in writing both ways before I can raise it with my manager, a process that I am, quite naturally I think, itching to start.  Then there will be the mandatory three months of notice to work, for which I have decided that, to quote an old cliche, as life is handing me some lemons, I plan to make lemonade, so my approach is going to be to go out with a bang (you never know what I might need in the future), and spend this time as three months of concerted and diverse personal education.  It will be tough; there will be tears, but it will be worth it.

I should therefore hopefully be starting at NeverNever early February.

After a hectic month or two, I have also decided to try stay off the beer until Christmas.  I could do with a break, and goodness knows I could do with the calorie reduction to kick start my weight loss campaign (which, not to tell tales, was meant to start when I got back from holiday in the Summer).  Time will tell quite how successful I have been, but I would like to try.  We all love a trier.

I now start nine days away work, having all next week off.  There is no sport this weekend for the Maggots, so it is likely to be off to the car showrooms to start planning for a car purchase, for what will be the first car I have ever actually owned.  I know, fifty-one, and never owned a car.  All rather exciting, but also rather nerve-racking, since I now not only need to do water for the washers, oil if I remember and that diesel thing, I will now have to contend with tax, insurance and servicing.  I am looking at it as all part of the growing process.  Others have been less kind.

I hope you have a good weekend, and speak next week.

And . . . relax

Fairly busy week.  Second interview on Tuesday.  Was not sure how well it went overall; he did a lot of talking, which saves me having to do it, but the little he did ask of me, I was not sure that I actually gave the best of answers to his questions. I have learnt that such a reaction to an interview can be either really good, or really bad.  In this case, it was really good, because the HR person, who I met after my interview and seemed like a very nice chap, rang me the next day to make me an offer.

This offer was not what it needed to be, so I made a counter-offer, and I am just waiting for him to come back to me.  I probably need to consider my BATNA too.

At home, we have our usual sport-filled weekend, but with a meal at ours for our friends Saturday night, which should be great fun.  Sammy has a cup game Sunday, which I rather enjoy, so other than having to get up too early, that will also be fun.

Have a great weekend, speak next week.