I am bored today, I have had enough of job searching for this week so I have decided to do something different for the rest of today so I have decided to do the following:-

• Cleaning the kitchen, well it needed some TLC so I have emptied the cupboards and cleaned them inside and out.
• Cleaned out the hall cupboard and thrown away a bunch of old crap, put the stuff I want to keep in boxes to keep them neat and tidy.
• Sorted out a couple of things to sell on eBay, auction to start over the weekend.
• Booked a hotel for the last week of my Lean Six Sigma training in Crewe, a Travelodge, but hey it's clean and cheap.

I also got a notification that Kat had put up another blog posting, it made me quite tearful when I read it, it shows how much we mean to each other. She has become so much a part of my life, I had pretty much given up on the idea of getting married or having children, then this amazing gorgeous, clever and caring person comes into my life albeit via a dating website and she does live the other side of the world. We keep it together by the use of phone calls, text messaging, e-mail, Skype and Facebook. I think that if it weren't for the fact that she is so busy with her studies that this might not be enough, I certainly find the separation difficult sometimes, especially when asked what our long term plans are. Although the plans are relatively straightforward, they are kinda hard to explain to some folk as they are contingent of several imponderables happening first such as me getting back into employment and having the necessary finances to make a new life in The Philippines, I also want to be able to work out there too, so I need to get some work oriented qualifications first, as well as some experience. With Kat being a doctor and working on being a paediatric consultant, I guess that I may well end up being a stay at home dad for a while when we have kids, so being a business improvement consultant could be a good way to make money as that can be done from home for much of the time. Also since most of the work is in the major cities we may be too far from her parents to get them to baby sit regularly. Still who said it was going to be easy or even simple, I am looking forward to a time when these are my real problems, not just dreams for the future, and the good news is that being a bit older, I may be in a better position to be a successful parent, here's hoping!!

Jumping the gun??

I just got a text from my wonderful Girlfriend Kat, she has started her own blog here on Blogspot (at http://www.katbyrne10.blogspot.com/) those of you that know us will spot that she has "changed" her name already, this makes me really happy and has brought a smile to my face on this cold and damp day in Surrey.
I am having a pretty good week, several recruitment agencies have contacted me regarding possible jobs, several of which are in companies doing completely different things to what I am used to, however that could be a really good thing, after all change is good!!!
Without stating the bleedin' obvious, I really do want to get a new job, not just because I need one to keep me in the style to which I have become accustomed, including putting petrol in my rather thirsty car (currently averaging about 28mpg or 11ltrs/100km but then again it is a 2.8ltr V6) and feeding my personal thirst for the odd beer or two...... I also want to have another vacation and whilst I am able to holiday cheaply nearer to home, it would not be as much fun without Kat and the bad news there is that she is some 6,700 miles or almost 11,000 km from where I live, so I need to take a long haul flight to see her. Also I just love visiting The Philippines, which is a fantastic country full of really friendly people, some incredible sights and wonderful beaches and places to go diving; basically an absolute paradise and this is where the woman I love lives, not that she gets out much since she is studying to become a paediatrician which involves long duty shifts in the hospital. I really do want to get back out there to see Kat and her family again soon, I don't want it to be as long as last time, almost 18 months.... Also I have a new God son to see (we did that by proxy as I wasn't at the christening, don't ask it's just a bit too weird).
Anyway, got some stuff to do later so time to post this...

Not long to go now

Well, it is only a few more weeks and I will become one of the many people who have been made redundant. When I agreed to take my terms from the company I have worked for since 1982. It seemed like a good idea at the time and in some respects it still is for the following reasons:-

• If I had of moved to Switzerland, I would have started a new contract and given up the possibility of the redundancy pay.
• I have managed to get something like £8000 worth of training out of the company over the past 6 to 8 months, even though I have needed to pay for a further £4000 or so of course fees and travel and lodging costs.
• My newly acquired skills should make my new career a lot more interesting and hopefully rewarding than the previous one.
• I have been forced to get out of the nice comfy place I was in and actually think about my future, the fact that I don't quite know what that looks like right now is just a small problem.
• The possibility of leaving the UK and going to live with my Girlfriend is now a much more rational possibility, I was having a hard time justifying leaving the rather amazing ICI final salary pension fund voluntarily, but now that has already happened and I have had an additional 2 years of contributions made to the fund as part of my package.....
• I am also going to get a payoff sufficient to keep me in something close to my accustomed life style for quite some time whilst I search for a job.
• There are some quite good jobs out there for someone with my soon to be acquired skill set, and the pay isn't bad either
  

But as we have all heard the shit has really hit the fan in the financial and job markets (there will shortly be over 2,000,000 of us out there searching for a job) so it may take a while...

I have had my bit of a whinge now, so that is that for this the first of my "blogs", I have had my wallow in self pity the next one will be much more upbeat, unless I want to moan about something that annoys me!!!