Clarity

OK. This is what's happened. I accepted redundancy (with a reasonably generous payoff) from a large computer company that I'd been with for several years. I only wanted to go as they're (I believe) being packaged up for sale to A.N.Other Big Company. I fancied a change, and didn't fancy the uncertainty of waiting to see if the TUPE arrangements would be bearable. Redundancy after that would almost certainly be at statutory minimum rate.

I looked forward to having a month off in between leaving and starting to seriously job hunt. This was to mean a lovely relaxing month in the Summer in which to cycle, do things around the house that have been bothering me, get the garden under control, enjoy the company of my cat, and visit friends and family.

Then, I would get down to the job of hunting for a position that would suit my skills, morality and need for work/life balance. A lot of requirements I know, but I can afford to be fussy for a while.

What actually happened was that I developed what turned out to be a very persistent chest infection in the last week or so of my employment which prevented all exercise of any kind and laid me low for nearly 6 weeks after I left employment. As I couldn't do much other than cough, drink, fret in my bedroom and register with employment agencies online, I found myself attending interviews before I was properly well, and accepted a position which I started at barely a week after my chest had stopped hurting.

I'll be honest. I had serious reservations about the position right from the beginning. I musn't go into too much detail, but my doubts have grown and grown until I now realise that not only will my job seriously compromise the work/life balance I wanted, it will also take me away from IT, which is my core skill set and the area I enjoy above all others. This I cannot abide.

So I'm leaving. It's going to be very short notice as only a week is specified in my contract. I've been asked not to tell anyone as the Chief wants to make a proper announcement herself. Aren't they lucky that the server hard disk decided to eat itself this week instead of next??

I have another opportunity which I will pursue that I won't go into until the dust is well settled. Suffice it to say that I'm very pleased and excited about the future. I will miss the people here as they are interesting, unique and lovely. But I have to be honest and acknowledge my own limits and boundries.

Some more time off is likely, for which I will hopefully remain well and be able to enjoy, this time.

I don't know how much to say about my work issues as one never knows who is (or will be) reading this blog. Not that I'm paranoid or anything - nothing said here has the remotest bit of interest for anyone who's not associated with me or has a vague interest in pootle-type cycling. I'm going to keep things deliberately anonymous but explain enough for my friends to know what's been going on in my daft little brain. I also find writing useful to examine my own thoughts - putting them on a specimen slide, almost!!

And Yes, there has been a reason. A very good reason. It's been sorted now and I'm feeling very relieved. I'll post more detail soon. For anyone who's concerned, service will be back to normal soon with no permanent ill effects.

The second annual girls' weekend at Swanage was great again. Baileys featured prominently as usual, and drunken texts and phone calls were had late at night to bemused partners and boyfriends. For September, the weather was astonishing - hot and dry and altogether gorgeous. We couldn't believe how good it was.



We went this time on the weekend of the Swanage Folk Festival. It was excellent - almost as good as Jack In The Green although not quite as much activity in the town before the parade and after.



To keep the spirit of the weekend on track, the music of choice was The New Forest Plonkers, absolutely hysterical, very rude, and had us laughing for hours. So if I come up and ask if I can take a sample of your celery home tonight whilst fluttering my eyelashes, OK, yes, I am quite deranged, but this band it responsible for that particular manifestation!!

It was a lovely long weekend that went past far too quickly. There's talk of next year's outing being relocated to North Wales. It'll be interesting to see if it can be as much fun. I have a very soft spot for Swanage and the local area.

I've been meaning to get out to some very nice fields around where I live to take photos of the round hay bales. I've always loved the sight of them - gives me a comfortable sense of harvest being safely gathered in. I like the scent of them too, that sweet, slightly sickly smell that I always associate with dark thundery skies and heavy humidity.

So I got around to it this weekend - I got sick of the threat of rain and decided to go out anyway. But guess what?



They were all gone! I'd left it just that little bit too late. Still, I mooched around the field all the same looking at the development of the hedgerow fruits and realising that if I'm going to make blackberry and elderberry crumble again this year that I'd better get a move on with that plan too! I do like the colours of this season - like Spring, the colours and scents are so much more vivid in Autumn than the harsher temperatures of Summer. I love the way everything's gone green again after this last dose of rain.

But the rain continued to threaten and I was getting cold, so returned to my bike who was having a rest by the gate.....



Doesn't Jackdaw look wierd with those slicks on?? Goes like greased lightning though, I can tell you. A spare set of wheels is such a good idea - knobblies to slicks in seconds and back again. I know that many people would want a bike for each purpose, but it's really not necessary for me, with the state of the roads around here, road-work is not far off as bumpy as off-road anyway!!