Warhead’s blog

A few weeks ago I started using Spotify and soon discovered that a lot of progressive rock that I'd never been able to get hold of was available on there.  Box of Frogs, for example.  I never knew about the band at the time they were recording and only came across the name years later in the Rough Guide to Rock.  Out of curiosity I put their name in the Search box, and up came both of their albums.  Now, they're not great albums, but at least now I've heard them for myself.

Casio

I had digital watches for years, but now that I have to wear glasses to read I've gone back to analogue because I can see which way the hands are pointing, even if I can't see the numbers. 

If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

I'd teach you a lesson, once and for all.

.... forget things.

So, I'm not unemployed, but don't have a job of my own.  One of the strange (but mostly good) things about the British civil service is that if your role becomes obsolete they try to redeploy you in another job rather than making you redundant.  I guess it makes sense, if they've invested in lots of training and you have a wealth of experience and transferable skills.  But after a few months of doing odd projects you begin to feel you'll never have a permanent job again and like it or not, our jobs define what we are and how we fit into the world, so it begins to hit your self-esteem.  

What are you doing to save money during this economic downslide?
Submitted by Jenn.

Nothing.  I am spending as normal while I can.  One of the reasons for the downslide is that people have cut down on their spending.

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Share your favorite quote from the 16th President of the United States. 

"Get the fuck out of my way, I can't see the stage."

.. the expression 'going forward.'

I’m still here. 

I still don’t have a job of my own. 

The office restack work was completed by the end of October, so I was declared surplus (again) at the beginning of November.  Since then my boss has been giving me ‘meaningful tasks’ to do while the office reorganisation is under way and it’s surprisingly easy to keep occupied.  One task I have been assigned is managing the vacancies in my division, drawing up job descriptions for new posts and arranging interviews for candidates.  The irony of this is not lost on me. 

As part of our job cutting exercise we’ve had another early retirement/severance scheme and I did consider applying for that, but in the current economic climate I have no illusions about how difficult it might be for me to find another job, and I would need another one even though I could have been on a full pension if I’d been successful.  Sixty one staff from a complement of about 350 applied to go and 40 have had offers, but not all of those will actually go.  Even so, there will be more job opportunities once the jumpers have jumped. 

The other encouraging factor is that another government agency is moving here from London, and as not all their staff want to come up here there will be quite a lot of new jobs available with them. 

In the short term I’ve just been offered a temporary job for a couple of months to fill in for a manager who’s leaving in a few weeks.  His job will go into the vacancy pot, so having the opportunity to test drive it will give me an idea about whether I’d like to do it permanently, and the divisional boss a chance to see if I’m suitable from their point of view.  I’m just waiting for a start date, but I’ll probably get a month’s hand over with the outgoing guy, which is unusually good.