As is the norm here I have been away for six weeks. And while a lot has changed giving me more to talk about I really need to get out of this habit. I also recognise that I have said that before so I shall resist the urge to make promises that this time things will be different.
Having briefly read my last update I am excited at how far I’ve come. I will try to summarise but being concise is not exactly a strength of mine.
In terms of work I was only at Amazon for another two weeks following my previous post. Week one was work as usual and general discussions on how long was left on site varied between six and ten weeks. By Monday of week two this number had dropped and the general consensus was that within two or three weeks cuts would start. Work continued as normal until Friday. Upon returning from break at 10am we noticed a lot less people on site; respective agencies had called workers on site during break telling them that they were no longer needed and to collect their things now, not even to finish the day. The managers and main contractor on site didn’t have the decency to tell us face to face instead just emailing lists to agencies with who to let go. At lunch time even more people were let go. I survived the day so assumed I’d be back on Monday but it would only be a matter of time. On Saturday I received a call while helping me friend with some electrical work on the refurb of a house he has bought. It was the agency telling me they received an email late yesterday and didn’t get chance to tell me that I was no longer needed. This agency have been incompetent and unprofessional from day one so I was not surprised to get the call on Saturday when I wasn’t at work but I must admit it was annoying having to do the hour drive to and from work just to collect my tools.
I had a week and a half out of work which caused some tension at home but it was half term and I got to spend some much needed time with the kids. Basically Penny is unhappy with the fact that whenever a job ends I may be out of work for days or even weeks until the next one comes up. I have previously managed to find a new job to replace one ending with no break in between but this is rare. Unfortunately this is the nature of the beast with being self-employed but also I think the fact my overall aim is to no longer work for somebody else is scary for her. She doesn’t like the instability and risk. We’ve since had discussions and come to a sort of agreement which includes me not bringing professional matters home as much. This includes me moaning about work but also new ideas or business ventures I may have. This is a compromise we have reached and while I’m not completely thrilled it has definitely helped in our dynamic. The general thought is that as long as the money is there to cover bills, expenses and our minor luxuries each month she will trust me.
As alluded to I started a new job after a week and half off and while it has only been two and a half weeks I already know that it’s not for me. Please don’t judge. It’s a shame because there are a lot of positive aspects to the job; it is fully employed and long-term so takes a lot of the instability out of the equation, the hours (which include a half day on Friday) are much better the people there are great although I haven’t particularly clicked with anybody, the work isn’t hard but it can be pretty boring. The job just isn’t for me and despite feeling pretty down on myself for feeling this way so soon I know that if a friend or loved one told me this about their job I would have zero problem in telling them to leave straight away and put their happiness first – as long as they could still pay the rent and bills obviously.
To be honest I started applying for new jobs in my second week and one of them came back to me sounding very promising. I had a video call interview on Wednesday and got on great with the owner so then went in for a second interview with the head of operations yesterday (Friday). It all went well and I was told I would get a call by the middle of next week. I’m now in an awkward position because I don’t really want to go back to my current job but have nothing concrete yet. I had a text from an agency about another job starting Monday and I was going to call after my interview to find out more but the day ran away with me and also, lazy as it may sound, I don’t really want to start a new job so soon. I should really call, maybe I’ll do that now and see if I can speak to anybody. If not I will call on Monday and have no qualms about starting Tuesday. A three day weekend is more than enough.
Reading back on what I’ve written so far I’m wondering if I could have just said my job at Amazon ended in a shitty way and after a week at home with the kids I started at a new place. I’ve been there three weeks and it isn’t for me so I’ve applied for more jobs and had a great interview yesterday I’m waiting to hear back from. I really, desperately need to work on my conciseness.
In other work related news I renewed the card I need to be on site yesterday and the plan to complete my qualifications in the new year are still on – in fact the job I interviewed have told me that they would help put me through my final stages of becoming a fully qualified electrician.
Shifting seamlessly from work to my own professional interests I have been looking in to creating a line of journals and planners to sell on Amazon. I had a day of research and initial stages of development. I enjoyed the process and there will be more on this later. In fact perhaps later today I will be revisiting this.
In other, more relevant to the blog, news I have written something! At least a part of something. In the last update I mentioned a bit of dialogue which popped in to my head and the loose basis of a story expanded from it. Well a week or so of fleshing it out in my head I did the cliché thing and headed to a coffee place to write my outline. Three pages later I had the general idea of how my story will go. Add to that on Tuesday (some of you will know just how much disdain I have for Tuesdays) just gone I had the feeling all day that I wanted to make a start and write a rough portion of the story. Without wanting to put too much thought in to which part exactly I decided to go obvious and start at the start. I will be posting this shortly and will add an hyperlink when I have but please remember this is literally a first draft and a lot could change. I may also post this elsewhere for some feedback and possibly a link to the blog, so who knows maybe somebody could be reading these words shortly. Scary stuff.
Moving on to more personal matters and looking forward, it is Penny’s birthday next Friday and while it has taken a while I am pretty happy with everything at the moment. I still have something to do but hopefully it goes smoothly and doesn’t cause any issues. Also we are surprisingly organised for Christmas although I must say the majority of this is down to Penny – she is the one person I actually have to go out and get a gift for and I have no idea what to get, though some of that is because of how good her birthday will be so I’m giving myself a bit of a pass. I’ll figure it out.
In a writing sense I plan to continue with my story but I don’t have a set plan in place and I can’t wait to just ‘feel like it’ so maybe I’ll set aside like twenty minutes a couple of times a week and stick to it. If I go over and keep writing then great, if what I write is rubbish and I discard it then so be it and on a positive note at least it will be out of my system.
I need to start implementing a plan for the blog too. My aim is to transition from a journal to an actual blog and then to a community so I need to work on my conciseness and consistency but also explore how to write less like me – some guy, and more like an actual blogger. Also in the last month I renewed my hosting and domain despite having a little wobble over the blog and some money worries. I’m glad I did.
Exciting times all round.
Update: As mentioned above I have uploaded part one of a story. I hope you enjoy The lady at 54 (Part 1)