Big Dipper...

Its almost a tradition for me to moan about this every year so I thought I would get it out of the way early.

Only my second day driving home from work to the seasonally adjusted clock and yet already so many hundreds of motorists have seemingly forgotten the difference between dipped headlights and main beam.

The lights are supposed to be there for them to see or be seen, not to glare all on-coming traffic into driving off the road. Inconsiderate bunch of bastards...

Pub Report...

Now a more responsible person in my position would be spending every waking minute trying to decide how he's going to earn a crust after the end of January, but some times you just have ot put other people first. With that in mind, I took a trip out to visit my old mate Andy over the weekend to delivery a present and help him to celebrate (?) turning 40 earlier this month.

Thanks to Sharon who was taking little Laura to a more sensible birthday celebration, we had a lift from their remote farm to Ashbourne to see what delights the numerous hostelries had in store for us. With only a couple of hours or so to spend exploring, the itinerary went something like:

George and Dragon: Leatherbritches Dr Johnsons (and great jukebox incidentally)
Ye Old Vault: Deuchars IPA
The Horns: Wytchwood Hobgoblin
The Green Man: Leatherbritches Goldings
Smiths Tavern: Andy had a questionable Hobgoblin, whereas I opted for the much nicer Jennings Cocker Hoop. Pity we only found out as we were about to leave that Marstons Pedigree was their speciality, but a quick half was sufficient to prove the point.
Back to the George & Dragon, where each pint this time was accompanied by a JD to toast Andy's birthday
Back to the Ye Old Vault, but due to a technical problem the barmaid was having while the queue at the bar grew deeper, we panicked and fled back to the George to cram in one last pint and a game of pool before getting the call to say our lift back had arrived.

So there it was Ashbourne, a delightfully picturesque market town with a plethora of real pubs, full of real people and selling real food and most importantly, real ales. I don't really know what more I can tell you other than "go there".

I might possibly add that after a session like that, it probably wasn't the best of ideas to crack open the bottled real ale as soon as we got back to the farm. Possibly even less wise to then take a trip to the nearest village to partake in a further three pints of their real ales which equally went down a treat, although to this day I couldn't tell you what they were...

Taking it all in...

Two job applications still in progress right now, both of which have outlasted the earlier one (not much of a challenge, I admit).

Monday saw my first meeting with the outplacement consultants and I'm pleased to report that I was very pleasantly surprised. Although he complemented me on the quality of my CV, he went on to give me some good ideas towards improving it further still and provided some fascinating insights as so better ways to launch myself into the job market.

While I'm wading through the elements of the outplacement program, I also started the first of my in-house training sessions today. I'd heard a lot of positive feedback about the Basic Laboratory Techniques course and considering I'm part of the Technical Department, I probably should have followed it up earlier. Regardless, I managed to latch on to the course today and I'm glad I made the effort - it was really interesting with the added bonus that I got to play with some kit I otherwise probably would never have done.

Next training course is week after next when I'm on a fork truck driving course - now that's one I'm really looking forward to. I've no long term ambition of becoming a fork truck driver (or lab technician for that matter) but all of this training is being laid on for free and I figure I should take the opportunity to stuff the CV with as wide a range of experiences and training as possible to make myself more employable.

In the meantime, there is another training course being planned in the background that I'm particularly excited about. I can't say too much right now as some considerable strings are being pulled to get it provided for free, but if it works out as planned, I'll certainly be telling you all about it later on...

Our Survey Said...

It's laughable really - the application I sent off last night was returned and rejected mid-morning today!

I can't pretend I'm overly surprised as the last time I applied for a position advertised by this particular agency, the rejection came back even quicker. Seriously concerned the last time, I called them for some feedback on receipt of their email, only to be told that the position was very highly subscribed and she "didn't feel the role best suited my skill set". She then went on to reassure me that I had a strong CV and that she would be happy to work with me to find something else, but she would have to get back to me in a few weeks. You could almost smell the sincerity over the telephone and unsurprisingly I never heard any more from her.

Truth be known, it was the salary and geography that offered the main attraction for this role so perhaps there's a lesson to be learnt there. Not that I'm concerned right now anyway, after all, the game has only just begun...

Gizza Job...

The moment finally arrived last Tuesday and I received the letter giving me notice that my employment terminates on 29th January.

I had expected it to be a little later than that and I genuinely think its unwise to let me go quite so early in the overall scheme of things, but it is more than most have been given so I can't really complain. Furthermore, I now have the basis to start building my future from. So onto the master plan.

Plan A: to make sure my lottery tickets are always up to date. Hey, let's face facts, I'd rather not have to work at all, or at least would like to have the option to work on my own terms. Admittedly, this is a tad of a long shot.

Plan B: stick with the current job until the end of January. They have now confirmed my redundancy package in writing and it's far too much to just walk away from unless something quite amazing turns up. Next week is my first meeting with the outplacement consultants they have provided to help us all in our move towards a new future. They are also providing heaps of training which I'm taking advantage of; everything from problem solving techniques to fork lift driving.

The second part of plan B is to start looking for a Customer Service Manager role within about 20 miles from home. Clearly I'll be taking advantage of every resource out there on the internet and writing to absolutely anyone who I think may be interested, in addition to whatever the above-mentioned consultants have in mind.

Plan C kicks in around December and basically involves expanding the job search to any managerial position with similar prospects and package as I have now within about 50 miles from home.

If this hasn't reaped any rewards by the end of January then plan D is to take a couple of weeks break then pretty much apply for anything just to buy me a bit more time until a more appropriate opportunity comes along.

Best case, I'll get a better job than I have now that starts at the beginning of March next year. Worst case, I can actually afford to be out of work until the back end of next year if absolutely necessary. Given the choice though I'd rather put my redundancy payout to something a little more exiting than just living from.

First job application has gone off today so the plan is now officially under way and the fun starts right here...

Office Moves...

I spent most of the morning moving office again today even though it's not that long since the last move. It came as a bit of a surprise to many as an office to yourself is a luxury that was only enjoyed by the MD and myself (more by circumstance rather than my status within the organisation I hasten to add) and as offices go, it is quite a nice one...



Truth is, the redundancy letters have started being distributed now (I haven't had mine yet but I know it's on it's way) and I thought the room would be put to much better use as a private area for people to make personal calls to arrange interviews etc., somewhere for people who want to talk in private about any problems or challenges they are personally facing, or at worst, to host some of the countless meetings resulting from the transfers to other sites.

As for me, I'm now closer to my own team as well as being amongst the other teams I work most closely with and now we can all see out these last few months in the same office together...

A Quick Pint...

Despite the title, it's an alcohol free post in all senses; the content doesn't discuss it (from here on) and the writer hasn't had any since last Saturday (and that won't last long either).

I had an appointment at the blood donors for later on this evening, but as I happened to be passing and the car park seemed empty, I thought I would see if they could squeeze me in early. Although officially they were just about to close the afternoon session, they very kindly agreed to sneak me through as the last donor before their break.

Now I don't mind waiting around there and they usually don't keep you too long. Sure, I'm not a big fan of sitting around doing nothing, but the potential end result of my donation far outweighs the importance of anything else I would be doing with that time.

I'll spare you a blow by blow account but I walked in there just before 4:00pm this afternoon and little over 30 minutes later I had registered, been tested, given my donation, downed a coffee and a couple of Club chocolate biscuits and was on my way back home. Never in my 39 pint history can I remember getting through so quickly.

So what else was I supposed to do with the time I'd saved other than come on here and encourage you to do likewise? You know my opinion on the matter by now: if you can't donate that's fair enough. If you can but just don't want to, you should be ashamed of yourself. If you want to find out where your next nearest session is so you can make a donation, click on Billy below...

No news is no news...

Well we are getting ever nearer to the end of the 90 day consultation period at work and today they have announced that they intend to close the plant a couple of days before Christmas.

Effectively that means that many of the employees will now all finish on that same day. Some will be required to work on for a while afterwards but as yet they haven't determined who that is going to be and how long they will be needed for.

Indeed, some have decided not to wait, forego the pot of gold at the end of the "rainbow" and have already been fortunate enough to find employment elsewhere.

For now though, my plans remain unchanged - I fully intend to sit tight and claim my rightful reward for enduring 14 years there and will not start looking for anything new until I have a clearer idea of a finishing date. I may find out as early as next Tuesday or maybe not until much later on in the year.

It probably wouldn't hurt to have a clearer idea about what I want to do when the time comes. As of right now, I still have absolutely no idea...

Trichological tale...

Ever since that fateful day about 6 years ago when I had my head shaved in the pub for charity, I think I've only ever paid for a haircut once or twice since, preferring instead to cut my own. Fair enough, I'm into my second pair of clippers, but I'm thinking that as I'm saving about £7.50 every other week, they have pretty much paid for themselves.

Whilst giving my self a once-over at the weekend (I could probably have phrased that better) one of the teeth fell out of the attachment comb so having finished my trim, checking carefully that I hadn't left any rogue black stripes, I set about finding a replacement.

Unfortunately, it seems that everywhere only sells the attachment combs in full sets of six, a little wasteful for me as I only ever use the 3mm attachment. So I rang the Remington Help Desk, where the automated voice gave me an alternative number if I was looking for spare shaver or clipper parts. The company at the end of the other number advised me that they were only available in sets of six, but she could sell me a set at a discounted price (plus postage which then worked out about the same!). I politely declined.

Not exactly angry, I thought I would give the Help Desk another quick call just to share my experience with them as I'm sure it is a quite common problem. To my surprise, without my even having to prompt, she happily told me that they always have spares about the office and would gladly pop a couple of replacements in the post to me free of charge.

So there you have it a happy post, with a little good news twist in these times of recession. Oh and of course, if you find yourself needing to buy a set of hair clippers, make sure they are Remington...

Blog Sulk...

I discovered earlier this year that the file host I've been using to store pictures for the blog is closing in October, but since they announced this they have been assuring me that they would soon be posting simple instructions to transfer my files.

Last night I finally remembered to check back in again and these "simple" instructions involve signing up to a $4 a month subscription. OK, it's not exactly a huge sum of money but I'm not going to start paying it out of principle. The only real free alternative it seems is to check each post on the blog over the last 5 years and save the pictures individually. That ain't gonna happen either.

As well as the pending disappearance of many of the pictures, the YouTube copyright police have been removing videos here, there and everywhere leaving even more holes in my blog posts.

I still believe there is a place for the blog, Twitter, and I hate to admit, even Facebook, so I will be keeping it going. Chances are that nobody would have even noticed if I didn't mention it...

Sporting Life...

Like thousands of others, I looked on in disgust this morning at the footage on the news of the violence at the Millwall vs West Ham match last night. You can't really call them football fans as it appears that the actual sport is merely an aside to the taunting and fighting that many of them seem to have paid their entrance at the gate for.

Now it is widely accepted that I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about sport, maybe not even that much, but I think I have a solution; a bit off the wall maybe but then you should expect that by now.

If I understand correctly, half of the football grounds across the country are empty on a Saturday afternoon as their teams are playing away that weekend. In addition, most of the clubs could use an extra few quid to top up the coffers.

So I propose that every Saturday the teams go and play each other as scheduled and the fans who want to enjoy a couple of hours with their friends and families cheering their sides on, go along and do so.

We can also assume that there are a proportion of "fans" for both teams who are largely indifferent to the sport but just want to go and kick the shit out of each other for a couple of hours. So why not charge them the same price to be allowed onto the pitch of the other ground (i.e. of the team playing away) where they can merrily beat the living daylights out of each other to their hearts' content?

No police presence, no St Johns ambulance or other medical assistance, just someone to clear up the remains and usher the last few stragglers out at the end of it all. If a few of them get hurt along the way, well surely that's what they were expecting wasn't it? If they want to fight, let them do it, locked in a ground where they are no bother to anyone but each other...

Holiday Fun...

I've just enjoyed great long weekend with the family here and we've surprised ourselves at how much of a good time you can have without necessarily spending a fortune.

Thursday we didn't stray too far from home but we enjoyed the sunshine in the garden while the kids were happily out there playing.

Friday we ventured out to Cleethorpes beach which some would consider brave for a Friday afternoon in the middle of the school summer holidays. A couple of spits of rain en route but I think we were all surprised to find the beach looking like this

What more could you ask for?

Saturday afternoon we took a walk down to the village green to satisfy our curiosity as to what the village show had in store. As it turned out, everything you would have expected: cake stalls, hook-a-duck, face painting, bouncy castles, emergency services displays and a mountain climbing rig that my 5-year old nephew couldn't wait to get his harnessed little arms and legs at.

Intersperse this with plenty of food and drink throughout the weekend and of course, the chance to catch up with everyone, it was unfortunately over all too soon.

All that remains now is some lively exercise to burn off some of the excesses...

Life and Music...

Another lazy blog post tonight I'm afraid.

It's just that every now and then you're directed towards something that really makes you sit up and think and this would seem as good a place to share it as any.

Although I've also posted links to it on Facebook and Twitter...

Something for nothing...

I'd completely forgotten that before my last blood donation, I'd received a letter from them telling me that for donating three times within a year, I could collect a slate coaster as a thank you gift the next time I went.

Unfortunately, at the time they had none left but assured me that one would be posted on when they got some more. Not only did it arrive this week, which was a nice surprise, but they sent me a second one by means of an apology - as if it was necessary.


So if it's not sufficient incentive that you may be saving someones life, or that you or a loved one may need a transfusion yourselves one day, then go along because every now and then they send you free stuff. Click on Billy below to find details of your next available session...

50 bands...

The internet has been infuriatingly slow these last few days and appears to have brought Facebook to a grinding halt. One little gem I did find though (but haven't been able to reply on there yet) was a tag to list 50 bands you have seen live.

Cue a trawl through the memory banks after which I was surprised that I managed to count 50, but I did impose a few rules to get there. I included solo artists aswell as bands, but only counted most of them once. Personally I think Marillion with Fish were a different band than when I saw them with Steve Hogarth, likewise, the remaining Queen members at the Freddie Tribute were significantly different to the Queen & Paul Rodgers show. Having seen Quo a dozen times with several line-ups but with Rossi & Parfitt to the fore, I've only counted them the once.

Oh and I've seen so many pub bands over the years, some excellent, some shall we say less so, I've left them all off the list too. So for anyone who's interested, here they are in approx. chronological order starting from about 26 years ago (gulp) and rather like the pub bands, most were excellent although some were significantly less so...

Spider (my first gig)
Status Quo
Air Race
Meat Loaf
Chas & Dave (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Little Steven (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Phil Lynot & Grand Slam (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Dave Edmunds (Quo's Farewell London Concert)
Jason & The Scorchers (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Gary Glitter (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Marillion (with Fish) (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Nazareth (Quo's End of the Road Concert)
Marillion
King of the Hill
Extreme
Deacon Blue
Elkie Brooks
Tears for Fears (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Cliff Richard & The Shadows (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Genesis (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Oleta Adams (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Phil Collins (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Eric Clapton (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Elton John (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Paul McCartney (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Pink Floyd (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Dire Straits (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Paige & Plant (Silver Clef Award Winners Concert)
Metallica (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Def Leppard (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Bob Geldof (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Spinal Tap (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Guns N Roses (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Roger Daltrey (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Zucchero (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Paul Young (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Seal (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Lisa Stansfield (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
David Bowie (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Mott the Hoople (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Annie Lennox (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
George Michael (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Liza Minelli (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Queen (Freddie Mercury Tribute)
Crown of Thorns
Thunder
Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar)
Bon Jovi
Queen & Paul Rodgers

Consider me consulted...

It was my first one-to-one consultation today, although actually it was a two-to-one as both my manager and our HR Manager were there.

Do you understand why the closure has been proposed?
Yes, although I obviously don't agree with it

If we close on 31st December, here's how much you can expect to receive. Do you understand how that has been calculated?
Yes, it's pretty much what I had worked out

Any other questions?
Not really - nobody can answer the most important ones yet...

Question Time...

A regular visitor here since the early days, Jeremy from Montreal, left me a few questions to consider and rather than leave my answers tucked away in the comments pages, I thought I would share them here. All of course based on my current knowledge and state of mind.

1. If not working here, where would you prefer to work?
I suspect I have spent too long worrying about where I work. Right now it is important to me to be able to remain living where I do and am really happy, so I would consider working anywhere that will facilitate that

2. What is your passion?
Tricky one. My greatest passion would have to be music (listening and playing) but it's going to be difficult to carve out a lucrative career with my limited talent! A more professional passion has always been around problem solving and customer service, served up with something a bit techy on the side. Perhaps the Geek Squad beckons?!

3. What contingency plan have you put together in case you lose your job?
There is no "in case" here I am afraid. Despite the political noises the company are legally obliged to make, the site will close, it is just a question of when (currently not known). The trick here is mainly around timing - trying to ensure I can find alternative employment without jeopardising the significant proposed redundancy package by leaving too early.

4. If not this job, where would you NOT prefer to work?
My only negative criteria right now is that I can't foresee any way from here that I would consider permanent employment with this company again. Beyond that, I expect that I will become significantly less choosy as the big day gets closer

5. Have you sought information from those people you visited on your job? (clients/suppliers/other locations)?
Not yet although I have been networking with colleagues past and present. Most of our clients and suppliers are either outside of the UK or much too far away for my considerations in point 1

6. Do you have a goal date in mind to put into action your contingency plans?
Well I can't make any firm plans until I know when they no longer need me. As I am on three months notice, I currently plan to take a more active approach to job hunting as soon as my notice is served.

7. It is always good to have a plan even if it is remote, so that you are not caught unawares.
My current general plan is to stay there as long as they need me. Despite whatever I may be feeling emotionally, the option of walking away from my current salary (which is proving difficult to match locally) to potentially nothing has to be delayed until absolutely necessary.

Apologies if this post comes across as a bit self indulgent, but I thought it may answer some questions that may have occurred to some of the rest of you...

Ever changing moods...

Its safe to say that the mood at work has certainly been a strangely unsettled one since they announced our potential closure later on this year.

Even though I am in the thick of it all with 150 or so of my colleagues, I still find it interesting to see how people are coping with the situation and the difficult challenges that lay ahead for us all. For some reason, I keep relating it back to the seven stages of grief that people apparently go through.

Shock/Disbelief. Although we all figured it would happen sooner or later, very few of us had anticipated that it would be quite this soon,

Denial. I've had or heard the conversation so many times, the longer term implications don't seem to have been thought through very well and they can't possibly close the plant at such short notice.

Bargaining. Some may have hoped that there would be some sort of rescue plan for the site, although given that the parent group are not in financial difficulties, this was never really likely.

Guilt. Strange, but only natural I suppose. Could we have worked that little bit harder or smarter? Is there anything we could have done to avoid or at least delay this action?

Anger. Oddly enough (or maybe not), I jumped straight in at this one. I've worked damned hard and sacrificed a lot of personal time over the last 14 years, but now it makes no difference, we are all down the road together, exceptional efforts and achievements or otherwise.

Depression. The job market is not a healthy one at the moment. How are we all going to find jobs? What are we going to do next? How am I expected to pay mortgage/feed family? Little wonder people are worried

Acceptance. Well there is nothing we can actually do about it. Although officially it's still only a proposal, we know damned well that the place is going to close, so lets just try and leave with the best package and prospects possible. Better still, use this as an opportunity to pursue something you always wanted to do with your life.

I know I have been through all of these in varying degrees and even been back to revisit a couple of them before arriving at what I now believe to be some level of acceptance. When I look at some of my colleagues though I am not quite so sure.

Some are still hopeful that a plan will emerge to get things back as they were, some are still as infuriated as they were the day they found out, while some still seem quite numbed by the whole experience and still find it hard to believe what's happening. But, for the best part, most are still flitting in and out of each of these stages rather than following them in any particular sequence.

I guess we have as much a responsibility right now to try and support each other over the coming months and try to look out for those at the more vulnerable stages than others...

As years go by...

Just another one of my random musings.

As someone born halfway through the sixties, I also witnessed the seventies, eighties and nineties along with many of the rest of you.

At the turn of the last century, or milennium for that matter (and what a huge anticlimax that turned out to be) we welcomed in the "noughties". Oh how amusing the media are when they set their mind to it.

But what happens at the end of this year? The teenies? Seeing as many of us are going to be unable to afford any extravagant holidays, I thought perhaps we should enter the new age of camping with the tenties...

Can We Have Your Glasses Please...

On the continuing subject of people on YouTube who are far too talented for their own good, I stumbled upon this unbelievable talent on there.

Now I like to think I'm quite musical but I don't recall ever managing to do this with even a single glass...