Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Paid my 2nd visit to the Birmingham office today, and found somewhere to park the bike, close to the office FOR FREE! It's in a public car park but the bike parking is free and right next to the office that's ALWAYS manned (while the car park is open) AND covered by CCTV. Result. Now I can use the bike for trips to that office as well as my base office in Leicester.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Back into routine
After over 7 months on the unemployed register (27/06/08 - 08/02/09) I'm now settling into the daily routine of getting up and going to work. The added beuty of my new job is that I can commute the 30 miles between home and work by motorbike as much as I like. And this week I liked 4 days out of 5, with only Thursday being a car commute when I had to go to the Birmingham office on Thursday. I was glad the schools were on half term holiday though, that's not a commute I'd like to have to do everyday in a car in term time, and now that I know the way, parking arrangements, etc... I'll be using the motorbike for that commute also.
Work itself is going well enough. Friday afternoon I had an informal performance review with my manager and he's happy. We both recognise that I have a steep learning curve but initial progress is good and I've been given my first project to work on (hence the need to go to Brum) and my 2nd project has been outlined to me for me to pick-up in a week or twos time.
Work itself is going well enough. Friday afternoon I had an informal performance review with my manager and he's happy. We both recognise that I have a steep learning curve but initial progress is good and I've been given my first project to work on (hence the need to go to Brum) and my 2nd project has been outlined to me for me to pick-up in a week or twos time.
Redundancies at MidlandHR
Just over a year ago zeda went into Voluntary Creditor Liquidation at the end of January and throughout February we (ex-staff & industry media) speculated on the future of MidlandHR, also part of the Ancaster Group holdings owned by John Mills.
Well, the wait is over and the sad news is that during the past week MidlandHR told at least 9 of their staff that in order to maintain company profit margins they had been selected for redundancy. Some of these people are former colleagues of mine from my time with the company. Some have years of service within the group, while one had only started with Midland 2 weeks previous.
Will this be enough to keep Mr Mills in the lifestyle that he craves or is this just the start and will we now see redundancies at ABM-UK as well? One thing is certain, those shown the door this past week will find it tough getting another job in the current economic climate.
Well, the wait is over and the sad news is that during the past week MidlandHR told at least 9 of their staff that in order to maintain company profit margins they had been selected for redundancy. Some of these people are former colleagues of mine from my time with the company. Some have years of service within the group, while one had only started with Midland 2 weeks previous.
Will this be enough to keep Mr Mills in the lifestyle that he craves or is this just the start and will we now see redundancies at ABM-UK as well? One thing is certain, those shown the door this past week will find it tough getting another job in the current economic climate.
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Quick update
Work, and no access to the internet while at work, means little time to update the blog. Not complaining, after 7 months jobless I'm happy to be back at a desk and tomorrow I'm starting on my first piece of project work just 9 working days into my job. That's progress.
Sunday, 15 February 2009
My first week
Yes, I've completed my first week at Fidelity (FIS) in Leicester. The morning commute (by car) is taking 50 miles for the 30 mile journey, while the return journey only takes 35-40 minutes (unless there's been an accident on the motorway like on Friday). The problem is the nuber of oportunities to queue in the mornings, mainly down to volume of traffic. Never mind, I'll start using the motorbike as soon as the weather improves (i.e. possibly tomorrow).
The office is on the 4th (top) floor of the building in Sunningdale Road, Leicester on the edge of the business park. The building is undergoing refurbushment at the moment but our office is little affected. There are about 70 - 80 people in a mainly open plan office and a good number of them ride motorbikes of one form or another, so I feel as if I'm in good company.
Introducions have been made, I've got an email and mainframe logon, inherited an IBM Thinkpad (laptop) of indescriminate age and abilities (it crashed a couple of time Friday) so time will tell on it's worth. Mobile phone is ordered and inductions to the various areas of the business are scheduled for the coming week. I've joined the tea club (most important) and started digesting the manuals I need to cover in order to get up to speed.
All told, quite satisfactory and I'm happy. Let's just hope it stays that way.
The office is on the 4th (top) floor of the building in Sunningdale Road, Leicester on the edge of the business park. The building is undergoing refurbushment at the moment but our office is little affected. There are about 70 - 80 people in a mainly open plan office and a good number of them ride motorbikes of one form or another, so I feel as if I'm in good company.
Introducions have been made, I've got an email and mainframe logon, inherited an IBM Thinkpad (laptop) of indescriminate age and abilities (it crashed a couple of time Friday) so time will tell on it's worth. Mobile phone is ordered and inductions to the various areas of the business are scheduled for the coming week. I've joined the tea club (most important) and started digesting the manuals I need to cover in order to get up to speed.
All told, quite satisfactory and I'm happy. Let's just hope it stays that way.
Monday, 9 February 2009
My first day at work
Despite the attempts of the weather to prevent my attendance, I borrowed Suzie's Tigra and (because it doesn't have traction control) got to work with time to spare.
How did it go? From my point of view it went down well. Nice people, asigned to a team of easy going (but hard working) folk. There's loads to learn and little time to do it in, but, that's my first task.
How did I get on? Well enough for them to expect to see me again in the morning.
How did it go? From my point of view it went down well. Nice people, asigned to a team of easy going (but hard working) folk. There's loads to learn and little time to do it in, but, that's my first task.
How did I get on? Well enough for them to expect to see me again in the morning.
Friday, 6 February 2009
At last – my last day
As I’ve rarely worked anything other than Monday – Friday, and I start my job at FIS on Monday, as far as I’m concerned today is my last day unemployed. Thank you to everybody who has sent me a supportive message.
Now all I need is for this damned snow and ice to go away so that I can get to Leicester on Monday morning!
Now all I need is for this damned snow and ice to go away so that I can get to Leicester on Monday morning!
Thursday, 5 February 2009
In my world
With snow on the ground my car isn’t going anywhere, however, yesterday there was a thawing so I was able to collect Mark from University and run him into Derby to get some prescription glasses sorted out at the optician. Having dropped him off it was time for a spot of supermarket shopping before picking up Viv for a lunchtime drink, snack and chat. It was good to meet up and swap survival stories, catch up on news of former colleagues and just plain socialise again. I do hope that the role she’s in at the moment does turn into a permanent role for her at the end of March.
After that little escape, it was back home to unload the shopping, do some housework and (later) after applying a few updates to my web site, I prepare dinner for the family. This morning the snow was back and the car is staying on the drive. Washing machine loaded with laundry and I settle down for some blogging.
What else? Oh yes, I’ve not mentioned that Andy was below par over the weekend and by Sunday night he’d come out in spots. Monday morning he gets off work to see our GP who diagnoses Chickenpox! That night when he shows his mum she says that they are the same as the ones Mark had immediately before his exams in early January. Andy took the rest of Monday off work, but, was back in on Tuesday as he’s through the contagious stage.
Yesterday Mark got his exam results. Good, no, Excellent news! He’s still on course for a 1st class degree…. in Mathematics! The weather is playing havoc with his commute run between Derby and Nottingham but he’s still banging away, hard on the studying away in his room. If he doesn’t get his 1st it won’t be for the lack of trying.
After that little escape, it was back home to unload the shopping, do some housework and (later) after applying a few updates to my web site, I prepare dinner for the family. This morning the snow was back and the car is staying on the drive. Washing machine loaded with laundry and I settle down for some blogging.
What else? Oh yes, I’ve not mentioned that Andy was below par over the weekend and by Sunday night he’d come out in spots. Monday morning he gets off work to see our GP who diagnoses Chickenpox! That night when he shows his mum she says that they are the same as the ones Mark had immediately before his exams in early January. Andy took the rest of Monday off work, but, was back in on Tuesday as he’s through the contagious stage.
Yesterday Mark got his exam results. Good, no, Excellent news! He’s still on course for a 1st class degree…. in Mathematics! The weather is playing havoc with his commute run between Derby and Nottingham but he’s still banging away, hard on the studying away in his room. If he doesn’t get his 1st it won’t be for the lack of trying.
I did not cause Rock run
I'm getting really worked up about the way the BBC covers news items and presents them on televsion news programmes....
Yesterday Robert Peston said that he did not cause the run on Northern Rock – see the BBC news item on the BBC web site .
Now he is probably correct. He’s probably also correct when he denies that his scoops on the troubles at Bradford & Bingley, and then HBOS lead to their downfall.
And why should he say anything else? After all, he is only the reporter. It is the editorial responsibility of the BBC news editors to ensure that all news items are reported in a responsible manner, a manner that doesn’t cause undue concern.
But as we all know, the BBC has long since given up balanced reporting. The focus is on bad news. The emphasis is not on reporting. The emphasis is on sensationalism. The BBC is no longer a reliable news source, because a reliable news source supplies a balanced view point so that the viewer can form their own opinion based on having facts representing both sides of the story.
When reporting on political issues the media have to give all the main political parties equal coverage – so they all get their say. The result is an opportunity for the viewer to come to an informed opinion of their own.
But in everyday news reporting that balance doesn’t have to be there, so the BBC News team doesn’t provide it. As a result, we get sensationalism, scant facts presented with an overload of emotion, shouted at us by happy smiling studio based reporters revelling in entertaining us. They see themselves as part of the entertainment industry, so they entertain us.
The BBC is no more than an electronic version of The Sun, the Sport or News of The World news papers. It’s a “lads mag” on a par with Nuts, OK and FHM. All that’s different is the content which purports to be news.
So reluctantly I have to agree with Robert Peston. However, I believe that it was the way his news was told and presented that lead to the problems with the banks mentioned in the BBC news article. I saw part of the BBC news coverage given to this enquiry on last night’s late news. As one would expect, that too was not presented in a balanced manner, after all, they have to protect their place in the world and to do that they have to look after their own.
The BBC is uniquely funded (as they keep reminding us) so it's about time that we got a high quality, balanced NEWS service. We used to get a reporter talking to "an expert" on many news items, but, now we get one reporter talking to another reporter. Everything is hyped up! The problems with the banks. The economic problems in the USA. Then the economic problems in the UK. Now it's the weather. The amount of coverage given to one young student killed in a sledging accident is out of all proportion to it's importance, but IT IS BAD NEWS! They could, and did, sensationalise it without thought for the family, friends, neighbours and community in which she lived. The BBC gets through £3,250,000,000 every year. Surely for that money, that level of investment, we (the providers of those funds) should reasonably expect a NEWS SERVICE to be proud of and not one that is only just keeping itself out of the gutter.
Yesterday Robert Peston said that he did not cause the run on Northern Rock – see the BBC news item on the BBC web site .
Now he is probably correct. He’s probably also correct when he denies that his scoops on the troubles at Bradford & Bingley, and then HBOS lead to their downfall.
And why should he say anything else? After all, he is only the reporter. It is the editorial responsibility of the BBC news editors to ensure that all news items are reported in a responsible manner, a manner that doesn’t cause undue concern.
But as we all know, the BBC has long since given up balanced reporting. The focus is on bad news. The emphasis is not on reporting. The emphasis is on sensationalism. The BBC is no longer a reliable news source, because a reliable news source supplies a balanced view point so that the viewer can form their own opinion based on having facts representing both sides of the story.
When reporting on political issues the media have to give all the main political parties equal coverage – so they all get their say. The result is an opportunity for the viewer to come to an informed opinion of their own.
But in everyday news reporting that balance doesn’t have to be there, so the BBC News team doesn’t provide it. As a result, we get sensationalism, scant facts presented with an overload of emotion, shouted at us by happy smiling studio based reporters revelling in entertaining us. They see themselves as part of the entertainment industry, so they entertain us.
The BBC is no more than an electronic version of The Sun, the Sport or News of The World news papers. It’s a “lads mag” on a par with Nuts, OK and FHM. All that’s different is the content which purports to be news.
So reluctantly I have to agree with Robert Peston. However, I believe that it was the way his news was told and presented that lead to the problems with the banks mentioned in the BBC news article. I saw part of the BBC news coverage given to this enquiry on last night’s late news. As one would expect, that too was not presented in a balanced manner, after all, they have to protect their place in the world and to do that they have to look after their own.
The BBC is uniquely funded (as they keep reminding us) so it's about time that we got a high quality, balanced NEWS service. We used to get a reporter talking to "an expert" on many news items, but, now we get one reporter talking to another reporter. Everything is hyped up! The problems with the banks. The economic problems in the USA. Then the economic problems in the UK. Now it's the weather. The amount of coverage given to one young student killed in a sledging accident is out of all proportion to it's importance, but IT IS BAD NEWS! They could, and did, sensationalise it without thought for the family, friends, neighbours and community in which she lived. The BBC gets through £3,250,000,000 every year. Surely for that money, that level of investment, we (the providers of those funds) should reasonably expect a NEWS SERVICE to be proud of and not one that is only just keeping itself out of the gutter.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Going snowwhere
Yesterday morning, like much of the country, I got up to find a blanket of snow outside, and very pretty it was too. And it was the real stuff, the right kind of snow, for snowballing, slip sliding and toboganning. Schools were closed. People couldn't get to work, but, I didn't have to because I don't start until next Monday.
Then Suzie asks if I'll take her to work because she isn't confident of driving in bad conditions. Of course I will (if only more people would recognise their driving abilities then there would be fewer accidents for us others to risk getting involved in). So I do (take her to work, that is). The problem is I can't get back home as the road off which "Our Close" is, well, it's like a skating rink (and covered in kids off school) and the Merc is fitted with traction control that doesn't, doesn't CONTROL! Instead it just cuts all power to the back wheels whenever they start to slip - and I CAN'T SWITCH IT OFF!!!! To make matters worse, when the forward motion stops the car slides back and the Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) won't apply the brakes so I CAN'T STOP MY BACKWARDS PROGRESS EITHER!!!! Me & my car, we're going snowwhere.
Just to rub salt into the wounds, John at #10 has an old Fiat Punto ( a supposedly inferior car) and he has absolutely no troubles at all getting his car onto his drive, while mine is parked up by the shops a few hundred yards away on the side of the road, a road that is a bus route and is therefore gritted by the City Council.
My mind is made up. That damned car has got to go. I'm going to get me a simpler car, one without Traction Control, ABS, Electronic Stability Program (ESP) or anything else of that nature. Even if I have to get a ten year old car! Me and my car, we're going snowwhere!
Then Suzie asks if I'll take her to work because she isn't confident of driving in bad conditions. Of course I will (if only more people would recognise their driving abilities then there would be fewer accidents for us others to risk getting involved in). So I do (take her to work, that is). The problem is I can't get back home as the road off which "Our Close" is, well, it's like a skating rink (and covered in kids off school) and the Merc is fitted with traction control that doesn't, doesn't CONTROL! Instead it just cuts all power to the back wheels whenever they start to slip - and I CAN'T SWITCH IT OFF!!!! To make matters worse, when the forward motion stops the car slides back and the Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) won't apply the brakes so I CAN'T STOP MY BACKWARDS PROGRESS EITHER!!!! Me & my car, we're going snowwhere.
Just to rub salt into the wounds, John at #10 has an old Fiat Punto ( a supposedly inferior car) and he has absolutely no troubles at all getting his car onto his drive, while mine is parked up by the shops a few hundred yards away on the side of the road, a road that is a bus route and is therefore gritted by the City Council.
My mind is made up. That damned car has got to go. I'm going to get me a simpler car, one without Traction Control, ABS, Electronic Stability Program (ESP) or anything else of that nature. Even if I have to get a ten year old car! Me and my car, we're going snowwhere!
Advice for those made redundant
If you’ve been made redundant and want some advice on how to cope see this article on Money Supermarket . com .
Sunday, 1 February 2009
Plans exploded
Typically we plan our weekends, keeping some time free for unplanned events, and this weekend was no exception. On Thursday Dad's reclining chair started playing up and Andy & I made a temporary repair, planning to make a permanent one Saturday morning. Angie & John were planning on visiting Mum & Dad this weekend. I planned to go out on a ride-out with fellow Deauville owners on Sunday. And so on....
So what happened? John got a tummy bug and couldn't venture more than a few feet from a loo, so driving from Colchester to Derby was out of the question. Various events in Andy's schedule conspired so that the repair to Dad's chair didn't happen until late Saturday afternoon. And the weather changed to cold with blustery snow showers so the ride-out to the Ponderosa cafe was called off.
So Suzie did the supermarket shop at ASDA on Saturday while I stayed home and did the laundry. When she returned I washed and chammied off her car so that it again shines like new. This afternoon she visited her parents (with Mark) and showed them the photos from our Malaga trip. We've spent time in front of the TV with Suzie catching up on recorded programmes. Andy has gone down with what we think is Measles (Mark had them a couple of weeks ago at the start of his exams) but should be OK for work tomorrow.
So what are the plans for the coming week? Flexible, due to the forecast for more snow and inclement weather. Still, best make the most of the coming week, it's my last of having to find my own entertainment and keeping my own company through the day. Thank goodness for that.
So what happened? John got a tummy bug and couldn't venture more than a few feet from a loo, so driving from Colchester to Derby was out of the question. Various events in Andy's schedule conspired so that the repair to Dad's chair didn't happen until late Saturday afternoon. And the weather changed to cold with blustery snow showers so the ride-out to the Ponderosa cafe was called off.
So Suzie did the supermarket shop at ASDA on Saturday while I stayed home and did the laundry. When she returned I washed and chammied off her car so that it again shines like new. This afternoon she visited her parents (with Mark) and showed them the photos from our Malaga trip. We've spent time in front of the TV with Suzie catching up on recorded programmes. Andy has gone down with what we think is Measles (Mark had them a couple of weeks ago at the start of his exams) but should be OK for work tomorrow.
So what are the plans for the coming week? Flexible, due to the forecast for more snow and inclement weather. Still, best make the most of the coming week, it's my last of having to find my own entertainment and keeping my own company through the day. Thank goodness for that.
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