I was in a bit of an odd mood yesterday evening and looking back now, I can see that my previous post was maybe a bit cryptic! So what is actually going on?
UK employment law states that you cannot make more than 100 people redundant without entering a consultation period of 90 days, essentially to ensure that the best options for all parties have been considered.
Technically it is only a "proposal" from those on high that we cease production in the UK and transfer the work to our other plants but realistically, I can't see why it won't be followed through.
Being pragmatic about it, I'm trying to see this as a fantastic personal opportunity as they have now forced me into doing something I should have pursued further a long time ago. For too long now I have really enjoyed my job and working with many of my colleagues there, but found it challenging to respect the organisation I've been doing it for.
As it turned out, my instinct wasn't far wrong but there is no place for self pity when you are one of around 200 people in the same position, many of whom are probably wondering how they are going to support their families and keep a roof over their heads.
Sure, its going to be tough looking for new employment in the current climate and especially coming from an industry which is quite unique in its nature. Personally, I have been fortunate to have gained a variety of experience during my time there and will be trying to pitch the various aspects of that to anyone locally who is remotely interested.
I can't go into too much detail as while I retain some level of anonymity on here, I can speak freely about how I'm really feeling about things and added to which, my current contract specifically restricts discussions on personal blogs about company matters.
So I'll keep the blog updated as this forthcoming adventure unfolds, but maybe not always at such a ridiculous hour of the morning...
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Always look for a positive...
Well today has been an interesting day at the office.Suffice to say that when the management team are suddenly summoned to the boardroom at short notice, it's seldom to tell us anything particularly pleasant.
Then an hour or so later after the site briefing when you are all handed a letter that contains the phrase "consultation period", it is seldom bearing encouraging news.
I'm increasingly inclined to agree with Little Sis that these things usually happen for a reason. The reason in this case is that I've spent the last 14 years of my life working for a bunch of...
No, that would be unfair as it's only in recent years that things appear to have taken a bizarre direction and gone pear shaped, not solely down to reasons of global recession.
Still, many of us have said that perhaps its the kick up the backside many of us needed to start making some serious decisions about our future. I'll settle for that as a positive right now while I try and figure how what the hell to do next...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Nothing Succeeds Like Excess...
You can't beat an opportunity to help friends celebrate something really special, even more so when they go to the extent that Andy and Sharon did this weekend for their wedding.
I'm not going to post a minute-by-minute account of the weekend's activities, but I doubt that any of the 90 or so guests involved would have any cause for complaint whatsoever.
The actual ceremony had everything you could asked for, from the beautiful bride to a sincere but light hearted service from the local vicar. For those who like to keep track of that sort of thing, the bride entered the church to "Heaven" and they left to "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" both sung by Bryan Adams with yours truly at the controls. OK, CD player.
There were mountains of food throughout from the generously stacked barbies on Thursday and Saturday to the heavily laden tables with all manner of things sweet and savoury to make sure that everyone had their fill throughout the afternoon and evening receptions. All skilfully co-ordinated by our friend and chef Dave.
You are possibly familiar with the phrase "enough booze to sink a battleship" but I think I may have actually set eyes on such an amount this weekend. In the marquee erected behind the holiday cottages were drinks of every conceivable description. Countless bottles of real ales, a paddling pool full of cold water and cans of beer, cases of bottles of red, white and rose wine and bottles of every spirit you were likely to look for. And yet with all of this free alcohol available, it was reassuring to see that nobody seemed to be abusing the situation. Sure, I guess all of us drank more than we know was probably good for us but we still left plenty behind this morning.
Yesterday afternoon we took a couple of the cars out for a scenic drive around Derbyshire on our way to Bakewell (you've got to love sat nav eh?!) and I'd forgotten what a charming little town Bakewell is. From the stone buildings which are quite commonplace throughout the area, to the trout in the river Wye being admired by the passers-by and of course we couldn't leave without stopping off for a quick cuppa and a Bakewell Pudding (not to be confused with Bakewell tart).
So there you have it, three days of total excess and excellent company in some absolutely beautiful surroundings. I highly recommend that you discover the area for yourself and you can book one of their holiday cottages here, but I would respectfully ask though that you don't hassle them expecting any of the free booze and food that we've just enjoyed...
I'm not going to post a minute-by-minute account of the weekend's activities, but I doubt that any of the 90 or so guests involved would have any cause for complaint whatsoever.
The actual ceremony had everything you could asked for, from the beautiful bride to a sincere but light hearted service from the local vicar. For those who like to keep track of that sort of thing, the bride entered the church to "Heaven" and they left to "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" both sung by Bryan Adams with yours truly at the controls. OK, CD player.
There were mountains of food throughout from the generously stacked barbies on Thursday and Saturday to the heavily laden tables with all manner of things sweet and savoury to make sure that everyone had their fill throughout the afternoon and evening receptions. All skilfully co-ordinated by our friend and chef Dave.
You are possibly familiar with the phrase "enough booze to sink a battleship" but I think I may have actually set eyes on such an amount this weekend. In the marquee erected behind the holiday cottages were drinks of every conceivable description. Countless bottles of real ales, a paddling pool full of cold water and cans of beer, cases of bottles of red, white and rose wine and bottles of every spirit you were likely to look for. And yet with all of this free alcohol available, it was reassuring to see that nobody seemed to be abusing the situation. Sure, I guess all of us drank more than we know was probably good for us but we still left plenty behind this morning.
Yesterday afternoon we took a couple of the cars out for a scenic drive around Derbyshire on our way to Bakewell (you've got to love sat nav eh?!) and I'd forgotten what a charming little town Bakewell is. From the stone buildings which are quite commonplace throughout the area, to the trout in the river Wye being admired by the passers-by and of course we couldn't leave without stopping off for a quick cuppa and a Bakewell Pudding (not to be confused with Bakewell tart).
So there you have it, three days of total excess and excellent company in some absolutely beautiful surroundings. I highly recommend that you discover the area for yourself and you can book one of their holiday cottages here, but I would respectfully ask though that you don't hassle them expecting any of the free booze and food that we've just enjoyed...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Movie Subtitle Mistakes...
I know that Twitter has been taking a bit of flack in that many people, celebrity or otherwise, are using it to share every boring minute detail of their day to day lives.
Sure there is an element of that sometimes, but you always get to choose who you "follow" and you can easily "unfollow" people who are guilty of that. With a bit of effort though it can really bring out the imagination and talent of some people and this last week has been an interesting one.
On Monday night, they hosted a live comedy gig with comedians (unsurprisingly) invited to tweet a set each with material in chunks of 140 characters at a time. It went fairly well given that it was really quite experimental, but I'm sure they will get even better as they organise some more. The full transcript if you're interested is here.
This weekend, twitterers were invited to join in a game of movie subtitle mistakes by being a bit mischievous with photo editing software and there were some hilarious results. My contribution was from Goodfellas, which I didn't think was too bad until I saw the sort of talent I was up against. My personal favourites were from Superman, First Blood, Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club, Airplane, Snow White, Gone With The Wind and the one that went on to win, Sixth Sense, but if you want to see them all, follow the Twitpic links from this page.
I accept that Facebook is maybe more easily accessible, but I've never known it as entertaining as that...
Sure there is an element of that sometimes, but you always get to choose who you "follow" and you can easily "unfollow" people who are guilty of that. With a bit of effort though it can really bring out the imagination and talent of some people and this last week has been an interesting one.
On Monday night, they hosted a live comedy gig with comedians (unsurprisingly) invited to tweet a set each with material in chunks of 140 characters at a time. It went fairly well given that it was really quite experimental, but I'm sure they will get even better as they organise some more. The full transcript if you're interested is here.
This weekend, twitterers were invited to join in a game of movie subtitle mistakes by being a bit mischievous with photo editing software and there were some hilarious results. My contribution was from Goodfellas, which I didn't think was too bad until I saw the sort of talent I was up against. My personal favourites were from Superman, First Blood, Silence of the Lambs, Fight Club, Airplane, Snow White, Gone With The Wind and the one that went on to win, Sixth Sense, but if you want to see them all, follow the Twitpic links from this page.
I accept that Facebook is maybe more easily accessible, but I've never known it as entertaining as that...
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Pause for thought...
Reading Delcattos blog this morning, I was reminded of a story I heard on Radio 2's "Pause for Thought" a few weeks ago and decided perhaps it was worth sharing with you all.
A Buddhist student had travelled far and wide in search of a wise old teacher and after many days of travelling through treacherous conditions, he finally spotted him on the other side of a wide, fast flowing river.
He glanced up and down the river bank and with no apparent crossing place, he became frustrated that the end of his journey was so tantalisingly close, but unattainable. He called across to the teacher, explaining about his long journey and asked how he could cross to the other side.
The wise old man looked up and down the river, paused, then eventually replied "but you are already on the other side"
Don't get me wrong, it's not my intention to preach to anyone, the sentiment behind the story applies to me as much as anyone here...
A Buddhist student had travelled far and wide in search of a wise old teacher and after many days of travelling through treacherous conditions, he finally spotted him on the other side of a wide, fast flowing river.
He glanced up and down the river bank and with no apparent crossing place, he became frustrated that the end of his journey was so tantalisingly close, but unattainable. He called across to the teacher, explaining about his long journey and asked how he could cross to the other side.
The wise old man looked up and down the river, paused, then eventually replied "but you are already on the other side"
Don't get me wrong, it's not my intention to preach to anyone, the sentiment behind the story applies to me as much as anyone here...
Friday, June 05, 2009
Calling all the heroes...
No apologies, you know the drill by now. I've just got back from the blood donors and once again I'm going to get all self righteous about how simple yet important it is.
To those that already go, good on yer, I think we have every right to feel proud of ourselves.
To those who don't (and can) please believe me, there are few opportunities to do something so potentially heroic with such little effort. Just ask yourself when was the last time you took about an hour of your time to do something which very realistically could save someones life?
Please click on Billy's picture below to find the next session in the UK near you...
To those that already go, good on yer, I think we have every right to feel proud of ourselves.
To those who don't (and can) please believe me, there are few opportunities to do something so potentially heroic with such little effort. Just ask yourself when was the last time you took about an hour of your time to do something which very realistically could save someones life?
Please click on Billy's picture below to find the next session in the UK near you...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
