You saw it here first: tomorrow, Monday, marks my first day as one of the great unwaged. That's right, I no longer have a place of work to walk, bike or even drive to, and it feels a tad odd.

Some key facts and figures:

• on Monday 7-Dec-1997, having left BT on the previous Friday after ten years, I started work at Eastern Electricity on a three month contract
• on Friday 6-Dec-2002, my contract finally expired

'Course, in between times, I'd been fortunate enough to have my contract renewed on any number of occasions, sometimes for one week, and once (in the early days) for a full twelve months. Seems like a lifetime ago.

Selected highlights from this quinquennium would have to include:

• five-a-side footy at Henley Road & Wherstead, particularly CS's injury, taking out EW, MB's own goal, and beating smart
• daily cafetiere: ah!
• staying late one evening to do a test run and leaving at 3am
• trying to slip the "word of the day" into outgoing emails
• biking to work in all weathers; ten mins quicker than walking
• being offered a perma-job: thanks MW
• 1998/2002 World Cups: late mornings, long lunch hours, early departures
• lunchtimes: Record Office, Enjoy, mansion, Carrot Cake
• but most of all, the mutual abuse & disrespect from my "colleagues" that seemed to hold the team together

Fret not, I hope to be gainfully employed again sometime in the new year. Meanwhile I'm practicing the phrase: would you like to go large? Only 30p extra!

Be seeing you!

Ed