it was my first week of work at my new place and it was ok. as is usual it took a day or two to get into the swing of things but slowly we are getting back into it and starting to do some work. there are 3 other people in the department and they have all been nice and patient with me in this first week.
being the outside contractor can be a bit awkward when you are joining a bunch of people that have known each other and worked together for years, but its been ok. actually i can see why people are reluctant to change jobs and why i had been for years. you get to know how everything fits together and you know everyone and how the oraganisation works and its quite something to leave all that behind and go somewhere where you are a newbie. throwing away that comfort of knowing everyone and everything is not easy for most people to do, but actually i really am liking it at the moment. this is my second job in the space of 8 months and i feel i am learning things and gaining knowledge and that feels really good and if i don't like it, i know i will leave soon and try something new elsewhere. with each passing day i feel more and more confident.
i used to think i would go places and find myself hopelessly out of my depth and would just make a fool of myself and fortunately that has not been the case. my confidence is growing each day and even if this place doesn't work out and they decide after a couple of weeks they don't want me to stay for longer thats ok as well. even in the space of one week i have learned things i didn't know before and so it will have been worth it.
my contract is initially for 3 months with a view to extending for 3 months at a time after that. my intention is to see what is out there and hopefully get something better if i can find it. april 22nd is the end of my initial period and that works out well for me because i think its february, march and april were a lot of recruitment and good positions open up. people leave banks after they have got there bonuses and also budgets and projects for the year are all starting up at the beginning of the year. we shall see how it goes.
anyways i also bought tickets for editors who are playing in march and i am going to angels and airwaves again in april. i was going to get tickets for radiohead but they are £47 which is pretty expensive, so i gave it a miss. besides none of my friends here are really into radiohead apart from me and i didn't want to go on my own or buy someone a £47 so they can come with me when they aren't really into them.
stayed in this evening. feeling sore. i strained my shoulder at the gym a couple of weeks ago and it still ain't right and i had football last night and we played for an hour and half non stop. i have also been waking up at 6 everyday and so am feeling pretty tired.
anyways thats it. today i have mostly been listening to interpol - untitled. awesome song.
just posting because it was officially my last day being employed by my last company. i asked one of the managers at the bank i worked at for the last 6 months if he could give me a reference and he did straightaway and it was very good according to the recruiter. i dropped him a mail to say thanks. another of the managers at the bank also mailed me back and wished me luck as he works with the other guy. that was nice of them.
today i have mostly been listening to one of my favourite songs of recent times. klaxons - its not over. .....yes it is.
i was officially still employed by an outsourcing company and so today i went in to their office and handed in my resignation. my manager was not there but i told one if his colleagues who i know and gave him my letter making it official. he mentioned that i would have to give one month notice (it actually says 2 months in my contract, but he didn't know that) and that i would probably get a call from my manager to discuss things.
am not worried though. i am scheduled to start on tuesday and thats all there is to it. am getting paid to sit at home and do nothing so i doubt they will make a big deal about it. they will save money.
today i had to go to the agency to sign my contract for the new place. whilst i was in a meeting there i got a call but i cancelled it and it went to voicemail. when i got out i checked it and it was a recruiter saying he had a really good role lined up. i told him to put me forward for it and in the off chance that i land it i will quit the new job and go to this place. thats all hypotheticals and i have something in the bag and thats good. a, not worried about that either.
i figure i have to take advantage of the situation i am in. i don't have any ties to anything. being single is shit, but it does mean i can take risks. if i can't take a risk in my situation then no one can.
and thats it really. i will try and post again but i am changing broadband providers and i might be out for a week.
on a completely random note i saw some guy with his hands tattoed on the train today. no real design or anything. just solid black shading from his wrist to his nuckles and then dark bars going along his fingers. it looked really harsh. i don't think i would have got my job at the bank if i had my hands tattooed. just as well that i haven't.
take care flower.
today i have mostly been listenining to bat for lashes - whats a girl to do. wicked video.
it took me over 6 months to find a job last time i was looking which was this time last year. it was so hard to do but i persisted with it in the hope that it would be better for me in the long term. i could have given up and stayed because its very tempting to give up after a few months of rejections.
this time round the contrast has been huge. the first week of january was dead and i didn't really apply to much. january 7th was the first day of applying properly and today i got offered a job at an american investment bank. its still not quite what i want to be doing but its progress and its a new experience. they want me to start on monday and i am looking forward to it. even this evening i have been getting calls about other firms wanting me to come in for interviews and i have had to tell them that i have accepted something and i am off the market. it feels great.
the job i have accepted is a freelance contract initially for 3 months and then reviewed on a 3 month basis after that. that is ideal for me because i think i will look again in the summer and see what we can get. i might find something that fits me perfectly. this current role is just an experience but not a career yet. it is nice to have the security of being having options though and getting offers. i always used to fear losing my job and not being able to get anything. that fear has gone for the time being.
today i have been worrying about my friend from san diego, and listening to joy division - love will tear us apart. i don't get to talk to her anymore. we decided that it was maybe best if we kept our distance emotionally as well as geographically what with me being in london and her out in the states 7,000 miles away, because her life took a turn and moved on in a way that our relationship would have been inappropriate.
its just weird that we decided to go our seperate ways not because we didn't like each other enough but because we liked each other too much. i don't know if she thinks about me, i think maybe i might cross her mind once in a while. she is still on my mind everyday as i always cared and worried about her and i still do.
it was weird but tonight at football half way through the game it just hit me really hard all of a sudden. it lasted for about 10 minutes and then my mind came back to where i was and what i was doing. i don't think she reads this blog as she doesn't know about it. there is a chance you might. i want you to know that even though we haven't spoken in 3 months you are still a positive influence on me. you inspired me to take the risks i am and you gave me the confidence i have now and my life is changing and its because of you. i always said i would be forever indebted to you and i could never pay you back. i wish i could.
thank you flower. i wish i could tell you now and talk to you because it was an interesting day today. you take care very good care of yourself my friend.
had an interview at an american investment bank today. i thought it went quite well. they didn't ask me anything i couldn't answer. in fact the only worry is that the questions were a little too basic. no bother though. i have a couple of things on the go at the moment and i might take it and only do it for a few months and move on again. after all, i am freelance now and you have that felixibility.
i passed my 16th microsoft exam yesterday afternoon. am officially a windows 2008 technology specialist now, and the most important thing about that fact is that i don't actually have to take any more exams for about 5 years i reckon. i still will do some, but i don't have to and so the pressure is off.
lots of calls from agents. compared to this time last year when i was looking to leave the job i had been 8 years at, the difference is huge. i have had as many oppurtunities in a week as i had in almost 4 months last time round. i have gone from being unpopular to popular. i have gone from being osama to obama. :-)
off out to see some friends for a quick drink in shoreditch and then back in time for the first football of the new year.
today i have mostly been listening to those dancing days - those dancing days. swedish pop to make you feel good.
take care beautiful. you were on my mind today. :-)
sweet jesus of nazareth, its all blown up today with regards to getting a new job. its clearly the first day back to work for most people and i must have had about 6 calls today, which is a lot for me. in fact, one guy called me at 8.30am and talked about a role he had with a bank he was recruiting for and at 11am he called me back saying the bank wanted to call me in for an interview this week. they actually wanted to see me tomorrow but i have another appointment so i am seeing them on thursday. things are definitely moving. if we get it or not is not really the point. its just nice that there is a bit of activity. hopefully something good comes out at the end of this process.
what else is going on???. hhhmmm, not much. cycled to the gym this weekend. am feeling the resistance coming back into my legs after not riding for 4 months. its feels good to be back in the saddle. have been going to the gym and been hitting it hard and thats been good as well. this week should be the first week back for football after quite a few of the guys went home to ireland over christmas and new year. am studying for another exam and am looking to take it on wednesday. it will be my 16th microsoft exam and it will go nicely with my vmware exam from a couple of weeks ago. in a strange way i am almost dreading passing it. i don't know what exam to do after that and will be at a bit of a loose end. i think i might have a crack at the cisco exam again or i might do the citrix cca exam. i have to do something. i can't just not study.....oh shit.....i need to get a life!!!.:-)
today i have mostly been listening to delays - hideaway
hope you are feeling ok flower. i saw on the forecast that it was raining in arizona. i know you liked the rain to give you a break from all that heat.
well i have been off all week at home. am pretty bored but i was very bored when i was working at the bank so i figure if i am going to be bored i am much better off to be bored at home than at work in a suit and waking up early and taking the train everyday. have gone to the gym this week and have been studying for another exam which i might take on wedensday.
its still quiet on the job-front, but its very early in january and things have not started up properly yet and its early days. i think it will get busier in the next 2-3 weeks.
i am still employed and get paid, and my manager at the company i work for that places me on site rang me up this afternoon and said i had an appointment for an interview at a bank. it sounds horrible and its an a shit part of town. i really don't want to go but i have to. its on tuesday and i am going to take a dive in the interview. i will come across slightly arrogant and as a bit of a loose cannon. they hate loose cannons at investment banks and especially in technical teams. hopefully they won't want me.
on the slightest chance they do want me, i am going to tell my manager i don't want to work at that site. if he says i have to and thats it, i will quit. i know i will be unhappy there. i know a couple of people that have worked there and they all said it was shit.
some things have happened in the last year that have made me feel different. its partly a feeling a confidence and partly a feeling that i have nothing to lose anymore. it means that i willing to leave my job before i have anything else lined up, if thats what it comes to. i won't accept a shitty job. i would have at the beginning of the year but not now. i feel brave and strong.
today i have mostly been listening to the smiths - please let me get what i want. wicked tune.
