all work and no play...

Yesterday I wandered into town at lunch and found myself in TKMaxx going goggle-eyed over the homeware. I'm sure this cannot be a good sign. I keep seeing things I really want for when I move, but must restrain myself from any actual impulse purchasing, because a) the move is still at least 2 months away, maybe more, and I have no storage space, and b) there are still many decisions to be made regarding decor, colour schemes and whatnot. So then I wandered over to ladieswear and found a top I really wanted for work, but the only one they had in my size had a bit of a stain on the front that I wasn't sure would wash out. Not worth the risk for the money, so I left it. Then, after all that careful exercise of restraint, I went into Borders next door and promptly splashed out on a new book from the history section.

Says it all, really.

I've been very bad about updating lately, because I am made of fail. I also still haven't finished the recap for SN 4.14, again because I am made of fail. It is almost finished...and yet still a long way off. There is just so much meta to pull out of that episode! It's exhausting.

Mostly all this fail revolves around how tremendously busy I've been now that I'm startling to settle into my new job. For the first few weeks I kept saying that I felt like the bulk of my workload hadn't really hit me...well, it has now!

It's going well, I think, but there has been so, so much to learn about the department and what the job entails and what is expected of me, etc, etc. Now that my major areas of responsibility are kicking in the workload is increasing all the time. This week has been especially crazy - and it isn't over yet! So then when I get home, mostly all I want to do is take my brain off the hook and chill out. I've been watching a lot of New Tricks and Jonathan Creek - quirky, light-hearted fun. Perfect. I also loved the recent new series of Hustle, which was right back on top form after going off the boil a bit the last couple of seasons.

I'm starting to get used to the pace of the job, though, after being out of work for so long. I'm still pretty unsure a lot of the time and mostly just feeling my way through it all, but overall it's a really, really good opportunity for me, career-wise. I'm gaining all kinds of valuable and marketable experience - university experience, moreover. I had so many interviews at one or other of the universities last year, and every time they told me that they really liked me and thought I was completely appointable, they had no doubt I could do the job...but they were going with someone who had worked within the university system previously. So, over and above all other considerations, this job should open up other opportunities for me in the future.

It's only a two-year contract. But that's okay, because...honestly, I already know I'm going to find the Business Continuity part of the role immensely tedious and frustrating, and that's my biggest area of responsibility. And the office politics can be tricky to navigate, although of course that would be true anywhere. My Boss and one of the team members seem to have a terrible clash of personalities, which can lead to tension, and although the two girls in my office are very nice and welcoming, they are very much a closed unit.

Overall, things are going okay. It is very nice to have a regular income after going so long without! I'm taking the opportunity afforded me by this job and learning as much from it as I can, with an eye to the future. And what that future might hold? Well, who knows?!

And I will get that recap finished sometime soon. Promise.

all work and no play...

Yesterday I wandered into town at lunch and found myself in TKMaxx going goggle-eyed over the homeware. I'm sure this cannot be a good sign. I keep seeing things I really want for when I move, but must restrain myself from any actual impulse purchasing, because a) the move is still at least 2 months away, maybe more, and I have no storage space, and b) there are still many decisions to be made regarding decor, colour schemes and whatnot. So then I wandered over to ladieswear and found a top I really wanted for work, but the only one they had in my size had a bit of a stain on the front that I wasn't sure would wash out. Not worth the risk for the money, so I left it. Then, after all that careful exercise of restraint, I went into Borders next door and promptly splashed out on a new book from the history section.

Says it all, really.

I've been very bad about updating lately, because I am made of fail. I also still haven't finished the recap for SN 4.14, again because I am made of fail. It is almost finished...and yet still a long way off. There is just so much meta to pull out of that episode! It's exhausting.

Mostly all this fail revolves around how tremendously busy I've been now that I'm startling to settle into my new job. For the first few weeks I kept saying that I felt like the bulk of my workload hadn't really hit me...well, it has now!

It's going well, I think, but there has been so, so much to learn about the department and what the job entails and what is expected of me, etc, etc. Now that my major areas of responsibility are kicking in the workload is increasing all the time. This week has been especially crazy - and it isn't over yet! So then when I get home, mostly all I want to do is take my brain off the hook and chill out. I've been watching a lot of New Tricks and Jonathan Creek - quirky, light-hearted fun. Perfect. I also loved the recent new series of Hustle, which was right back on top form after going off the boil a bit the last couple of seasons.

I'm starting to get used to the pace of the job, though, after being out of work for so long. I'm still pretty unsure a lot of the time and mostly just feeling my way through it all, but overall it's a really, really good opportunity for me, career-wise. I'm gaining all kinds of valuable and marketable experience - university experience, moreover. I had so many interviews at one or other of the universities last year, and every time they told me that they really liked me and thought I was completely appointable, they had no doubt I could do the job...but they were going with someone who had worked within the university system previously. So, over and above all other considerations, this job should open up other opportunities for me in the future.

It's only a two-year contract. But that's okay, because...honestly, I already know I'm going to find the Business Continuity part of the role immensely tedious and frustrating, and that's my biggest area of responsibility. And the office politics can be tricky to navigate, although of course that would be true anywhere. My Boss and one of the team members seem to have a terrible clash of personalities, which can lead to tension, and although the two girls in my office are very nice and welcoming, they are very much a closed unit.

Overall, things are going okay. It is very nice to have a regular income after going so long without! I'm taking the opportunity afforded me by this job and learning as much from it as I can, with an eye to the future. And what that future might hold? Well, who knows?!

And I will get that recap finished sometime soon. Promise.