And so........................redundancy looms

I was looking forward to picking the time and method by which I chose to give up work, but alas, it has been chosen for me.

After 13 years with this company, I've been made redundant - although I have a few weeks yet, before I actually leave work.

so, what of the future? I must admit that, at the ripe old age of 65, I'm disinclined to look for another job. Indeed, the chances of me landing another decent job at this age is very remote. The increasingly poor state of my wrists precludes me from doing anything too manual, and I really don't think I'd have the patience with other people to do something like part-time shop work.

So, what do I do? I now have the opportunity to try and make something of my little craft business. At the present time, I've been a bit hit and miss with it. I've made stuff when I've had time, sure, but I've not done a lot to promote it, or myself.

Well, now I will have. I will probably split it into 2 separate businesses - one for jewellery, and the other for other hand-crafted items. To me this makes sense, as it will enable me to build more clearly defined brands, instead of it being a mish-mash of ideas all under one 'roof'.

If you've not yet had a look, then please follow the links scattered all over this page to my little Etsy shop. If you have any suggestions or ideas that will help me, please pass them on. I'll be really grateful.

Of course, I'd be even more grateful if you either buy, or commission something!

I will also have more time to pursue my Buddhist studies. Whether this will make me a better person, is open to discussion. I will also not have the finances to travel quite so much as I do at present, so I was really grateful that my last trip to Wales a couple of weeks ago happened in good weather, and was truly memorable. So my other blog, My British Isles, will probably feature more local places from now on.

Actually, this won't be a bad thing, as I've very much neglected the South East so far in the blog, and it has a lot to offer.

Mind, if I'm not working, it will make sense to sell one of the bikes - not purely for financial reasons, but, if I'm not working, I won't actually NEED two bikes. It will make sense at some point to sell the CBF1000 in favour of the Hornet. Although the bigger bike is better in a lot of respects, the Hornet will be cheaper to run, and it is newer, has a lot less miles on it, and has not suffered the indignities of a British Winter so much. And I proved on the Welsh trip, that the little Hornet is more than capable of distance touring - and it's certainly a lot of fun on tight, twisty mountain roads.

So, there you have it. Let's wait and see what 2014 brings

Om Mani Padme Hum

Did you know..........redundancy makes you fat!

No, I haven't been made redundant, but I stand by the title of this post!

The company I work for is going through a staff reduction programme, where about 9% of the staff are losing their jobs. It's a sad, hard time for most of them, but even so, they tend to be generous to a fault.

They buy cakes. Lots of cakes. And sausage rolls. And feed them to us as a farewell gift.

It's not so bad when one person leaves to take up a new career, but there are so many leavers every day at the moment, those of us who are staying are getting decidedly podgy.

I don't know who ever started the tradition of buying cakes when you leave, or when you have a birthday, or a new baby etc., but it always seems to be a bit incongruous to me. Surely we should buy them the cakes as a token of our respect and sorrow at their leaving, or pleasure at their good news.

However, so be it. I will stay here, and do my work.........

And get fat..............

Emotional Stress

I don't need it..........do you?

Gonna tell you a little story..............

The firm I work for announced that they were making around 9% of the workforce redundant, and this is how they did, or didn't manage it.
Obviously, I'm not going to go into specifics, but see if you think this is fair:

on date A they announced that everyone would be sorted into 'pools' according to their skill sets, and that on date B (A + 1 week), people would be told what percentage on their 'pool' was to go.
They said that after that, people would be scored according to their abilities, and then on date C (B+ 1 week), they would be told if they were at risk or not. They would then be given one of two telephone numbers to call. One would be for those losing their jobs, and the other would be for those staying. Expected date of departure date D (C+ 1 month).

OK, with me so far?

So date B came and went, 99% of the staff were informed how big their pool was, and how many were leaving. My department heard nothing. We get a bit edgy and start chewing our nails...........

Date C came and went. Still we heard nothing. Two days after Date C, we get a phone call to apologise for not having given us a phone call, and telling us nothing, except that no decision had been made regarding us. We start to tear our hair out and have nervous breakdowns.

The next day, we all receive letters telling us that we're all at risk of redundancy. Well, at least now we know.

Ah, but a couple of hours later, we get a phone call to say those letters were sent out in error, and still no decision had been made about our department.

By this time, we're all feeling sick, snapping at each other, unable to concentrate, and generally falling apart at the seams.

A few days later, the firm announce a huge contract win. Later that day, we get a request to attend an urgent phone conference later that afternoon.

Surprise surprise, we're told our jobs are safe, and that it would be confirmed to us in a letter WHICH WE STILL HAVEN'T RECEIVED.

So, I need you all to buy my jewellery, so I can successfully get a new business venture up and running, and get out of this goddam rat race, while I've still got some vestige of sanity left.