Ran out of things to do, simply because I don't know how to do an awful lot. My immediate supervisor is back off holiday and she seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time to get up to speed. I've described myself as "at the twiddling thumbs stage" twice this morning and it's getting a tad embarrassing. I'd surf the web, but they don't like that here, so I'm blogging instead. Heh.
Went to Pontefract at the weekend. On the bus. Quite an absurd trek, really. The need for a car is rapidly reaching critical mass. It's just such an expensive undertaking, though. The price of petrol is through the roof, the price of insurance makes me cry... And I don't even enjoy driving, that's the stoopid thing. I shall just have to wait for the money to come through from a deal I'm setting up in Nigeria and see what's left over after I have my penis enlarged.
Pontefract's a nice enough place. The some of the locals are a bit rough, though. They lack tact, to be honest. I worked with the long-term unemployed in Pontefract for a few years and I had to develop a thick skin very quickly. It's like working with children: you can almost tell that they're speaking their mind. Such as is.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Work, work, work, work.
Phew. What a day. I'm undergoing trial by training right now. The rationaleis that now I've had the theory, I get the practice. Bigtime. One task, doneover and over until it's automatic. Then another. Then another. Then a mixture.A bit like learning to touch-type, really. And when I say "over and over"I mean over and over. 200 times. Three days' supply of a task until you can reproduce
dis rtnd 1/7/04 deds comm 21/6/04 @ £2.80pw NINO: ab123456c - ADB
in your sleep. And, like I said yesterday, I can't fault it. I feel at home here. Nice people (yet to get to know them properly, but they seem fine),decent enough open plan office...
I'm enjoying myself. I must be. I'm getting ideas again.
dis rtnd 1/7/04 deds comm 21/6/04 @ £2.80pw NINO: ab123456c - ADB
in your sleep. And, like I said yesterday, I can't fault it. I feel at home here. Nice people (yet to get to know them properly, but they seem fine),decent enough open plan office...
I'm enjoying myself. I must be. I'm getting ideas again.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
I've landed!
Yes, I've started that new job. Actually, I've been in my new job for over two weeks: and I haven't done a thing. This is not to be construed as a criticism. Quite the opposite, actually. I've been a bit of a guinea pig, involved in a new training programme that has attempted to ram the basics of the job into my thick skull. That's some undertaking, I think you'll agree. I look on it as a vote of confidence, to be honest - the chance to put my brain to some use.
That's what really got to me in my last position. I was so unhappy with the atmosphere in the job - there was an air of constant suspicion: a sense that if you dared to show any spirit, any thought, you were marking yourself out for - how can I put this - special attention. I have informal sources that tell me that the air amongst certain management tiers in my old workplace was "what can we get people on?" Which, I'm sure you can agree is not the best way to solve problems. Cause them, maybe. Solve them, no. Doubly so when taxpayers' money is involved.
I'm quite the idealist at heart. I joined local government because if I was going to sell my time, I wanted to sell my time making a bit of a difference. And this is the thing: I got accused, on regular occasions, of cynicism, by the very people carrying out the informal "what can we get people on" policy. There's a big difference between having the intelligence to see a worst outcome and having a heart black enough to believe people want that as a matter of course. But every time I planned in any way to at least go into a situation with eyes open, I was called cynical. Cynical's setting traps for people. Cynical's using procedure to stifle debate. That's cynical.
I was only saying to my new boss today (who's a thoroughly decent chap, btw) that I believe in the essential goodness of most people. People might do bad things, but they want to be good. Sometimes they get trapped in a cycle of bad stuff, but they still want to be good. To be honest, I don't see much point in using up oxygen in a world where people are cynical as a matter of course. I mean, what's the point? Where does it get you?
That's what really got to me in my last position. I was so unhappy with the atmosphere in the job - there was an air of constant suspicion: a sense that if you dared to show any spirit, any thought, you were marking yourself out for - how can I put this - special attention. I have informal sources that tell me that the air amongst certain management tiers in my old workplace was "what can we get people on?" Which, I'm sure you can agree is not the best way to solve problems. Cause them, maybe. Solve them, no. Doubly so when taxpayers' money is involved.
I'm quite the idealist at heart. I joined local government because if I was going to sell my time, I wanted to sell my time making a bit of a difference. And this is the thing: I got accused, on regular occasions, of cynicism, by the very people carrying out the informal "what can we get people on" policy. There's a big difference between having the intelligence to see a worst outcome and having a heart black enough to believe people want that as a matter of course. But every time I planned in any way to at least go into a situation with eyes open, I was called cynical. Cynical's setting traps for people. Cynical's using procedure to stifle debate. That's cynical.
I was only saying to my new boss today (who's a thoroughly decent chap, btw) that I believe in the essential goodness of most people. People might do bad things, but they want to be good. Sometimes they get trapped in a cycle of bad stuff, but they still want to be good. To be honest, I don't see much point in using up oxygen in a world where people are cynical as a matter of course. I mean, what's the point? Where does it get you?
Friday, July 16, 2004
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