EDitorial ± 5-Mar-2003

It's Good To Work

Fret no more. Despite that brave face you were adopting - the word stoic springs to mind - deep down you were beginning to worry about little ol' me's extended sabbatical, living in the land of Yosser Hughes (go on, gizza job). Concern yourself no longer, 'cos I'm done resting: as of this week I am re-turn-ed to employment.

I didn't foresee that when I jauntily left my former employer back in early December, it would be nearly Pancake Day before I worked again. But thanks to a friend-of-a-friend at a locally based major telecommunications company, the one that brought you Bob Hoskins, Maureen Lipman and Busby, my ninety days & nights in the wilderness are over.

The results produced so far have been of a very high quality for any person of his level, let alone someone of less than one years experience. Ed also works quickly. This applies to both code and documentation produced.

Actually, I've been here before. Those grainy scans are extracts from my very first appraisal in May 1988, having joined the mighty corporate behemoth straight from college in September 1987. That, in business speak, was my "substantive appointment date", coinciding with Rick Astley topping the charts. All together now: never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye.

Ed has fit [sic] into the team well. He is a liked member of the team, and is becoming respected technically.

My seven year itch happened after ten whole years, and I plucked up the courage to leave in late 1997. Now, back at the same campus-type site after five and a bit years away, some things have inevitably changed:

  • a handful of futuristic buildings have sprung up with designs ripped from Moonbase Alpha,
  • there's a soothing water feature like Ground Force gone mad,
  • all offices are named after constellations,
  • and the management have been thoughtful enough to set up a new coffee bar to compensate for not being near the town centre

Ed has settled down well since starting work in BT. The main thing that he now requires is more experience, and a wide base of knowledge. I am sure that Ed will progress from strength to strength, in fact the overall assessment was border-line between the top two marks.

On the other hand, to quote Talking Heads, it's "same as it ever was". Already bumped into half-a-dozen or more ex-colleagues, and it took all of five minutes to catch up, around one minute per year. Also, it transpired that the employee number I'd been given over the phone this morning wasn't quite right, being my original one from '97.

Must get to bed soon, since my body clock is out of kilter. It happens that my new colleagues start the working day at 8am, and therefore so do I. Which comes as a shock to someone used to getting in around 9.15am. Feels like I'm working on central European time.

Au revoir!

Ed