There are those

(who shall remain nameless) who reckon no one reads this blog as comments are few and far between. The stats data suggests otherwise, but what really counted for me was the number of phone calls & emails over the last couple of days as a result of the post about the new job, & the latter one re. change of circumstances. Employers come and go, but despite being occasionally rubbish at keeping in touch, my friends are always there for which I am eternally grateful.

It's like living in a revolving door!

so much change and stuff to get my head around at the moment.....

Some positive - Young Blood has been accepted on both a Masters course in Human Rights & Genocide Studies and a Law conversion course and is now trying to decide which to opt for from a future career perspective as well as work out the practicalities of funding, and moving from the Steel City etc.

Some not so positive - an issue which I am not permitted to blog about but will basically make me the sole provider for the Frosties in the very near future. Talk about shock to the system!

Just when you think things are stable...All change....

Being asked the impossible

is a pretty common occurrence in my current job. Today we heard we are the preferred bidders for a project in Libya. The bid was submitted quite some time ago and at that point I raised concerns about the feasibility of manning it should we be successful. As usual I was patted on the head and ignored....So here we are with contract mobilisation 2 weeks away and no real plan. I love our Business Development guys (not) :o/ Needless to say I envisage having to go out there to sort out the mess. Even if we are able to sort out a transfer from the existing incumbent we’ll have to screen and vet etc. To say it'll be a challenge is a bit of an understatement...the current provider is a Franco/Hungarian outfit which will make it a challenge in itself...never mind the backdrop of Libya itself.

Somehow people seem to reckon I'm capable of sorting this stuff out....Me with my grade B at 'O' level in French donkeys years ago, and my one word of Hungarian - 'Goulash'!

Anyone got a Babel Fish I can borrow?

The deed is done

I've handed in my notice!!

Much as am relieved to be able to have done so, I can't help feeling slightly bad as my leaving causes my boss a bit of a headache. He's a thoroughly decent chap and the working environment has been so much better since he came; but this is a good opportunity in so many ways; I feel I need to grab it, scared though I am of the step up, not to mention the possibility of failing.

My head's in a much better state than it's been for a while. It's been a horrible period of uncertainty/ambiguity for the last seven months...the work situation and my previous boss's behaviour meant I felt constantly culpable, vulnerable or both!!...it fried my brain, but now I can move on and draw a line under the whole thing.

Decisions, decisions

Well I reckon I've taken ample soundings & advice from those who know me well work-wise (particular thanks to Ms. Cor-Blimey & Mr. Futures Positive). After mulling things over considerably the decision is to take a punt on the new job. It's not about the dosh, more about the chance to leave behind the crapola of the current place, and try something different. I know diddly squat about the new sector, but then again what did I know about security or the Middle East 2 yrs ago, and probably considerably less re. electronic surveillance & cyber security etc. 12 yrs ago...but managed to blag my way through a career in both those sectors ok :D

I had a good natter to my prospective boss about some housekeeping stuff such as the amount of travel involved/time away from home so I could square that away with the sproglets as they are the ones who feel it most when I'm not there. They get why I want to do it, what it means for them etc. and have encouraged me to sign on the dotted line, so I spent the afternoon filling in a stack of forms accepting the position, and signing up for death in service, medical cover etc. Only thing left to do is have the conversation with my current boss....gulp!

Flipping heck!

just when I'd started to think about staying put an offer of employment lands in my in box!!! If that had arrived a couple of months ago I would never have given accepting a second thought but things have improved at work; I have a new boss and approval to get the staffing levels closer to where they need to be and consequently am enjoying work again.

The offer is highly tempting but I think I'm having a mild crisis of confidence and need to try to reason out my concerns....I've actually showed a couple of friends the job spec and asked them to take a critical view on whether there's anything that they think is beyond me. I can't help fretting they want something i can't deliver. I mean, I have no idea about their business sector at all, nor half the countries they operate in!! There's a stack of stuff to do, half of which I've never actually put into practise on that sort of scale.... plus no direct reports so all influencing.... Can't help worrying it's too big a step for me....

Dead End

Young Blood is home and bemoaning her lack of job satisfaction as a retail management trainee. To be fair, half the problem is that she was working as a checkout supervisor at weekends before she went to Uni, carried on in the same role for the last three years...and which section did they put her on when she started her training..? You guessed it! She's taken the obvious route and tried a couple of conversations about moving to a new department but to no avail.

So...she's bored rigid at work, earning diddly squat, living in a nice enough flat, but rough area of the City, wondering what she's doing with her life and the point of spending three years studying for a degree. Having spent a couple of days at home being fed & looked after the prospect of returning to reality has really hit her. She even started talking about moving back home!

Panda, Young Blood and I had a natter about what she could do if her Masters application is unsuccessful and have spent most of this evening searching job sites and applying for work in the charity sector which is where she wants to be.... until then she's stuck in a supermarket :o/ Much as I keep trying to tell her that retail's a good grounding for anything as you gain an appreciation of business, customer service and dealing with both staff and the general public... I'm not sure she's convinced....

Got to keep everything crossed something better materialises for both of us.