Tell us about yourself...

Well today finds me in a bit of a shitty mood.  I’m finding myself being wound up very easily, which is not like me at all.  Ahem…

I miss working in Leeds.  I don’t miss the God-forsaken (other deities are available) business park where the current Leeds office is (for now), but I miss the days of working in the city centre initially on The Embankment and more recently at High Court.  Then, work itself was bustling and interesting; I had colleagues hailing from various backgrounds, cultures and countries and we were bloody busy delivering one or two very big schemes!  At lunch or after work; the options for food, drink or retail therapy were plenty.  The social scene was good too – the week was somehow incomplete if one didn’t end up half-cut in Aire Bar on a Friday early evening.

Fucking hell, how times have changed…

The Leeds office has been on its last legs for some time now and is about to be euthanized by means of a corporate lethal injection.  A part of the failed treatment for this once great ailing power has seen your favourite blogger (No; me!) farmed out to a client’s head offices.  I’m grateful for the opportunity as it keeps me off the overheads radar, gives me the opportunity to broaden my CV and, most of all, I’ve met one or two really good people.

So I’m currently based in a town with a great history, potentially a great future but a struggling present.  The outskirts are burgeoning with lovely new build developments and some of the surrounding villages are home to sought after properties, but the town centre itself leaves a lot to be desired.  Now I’ve probably been spoiled working in Leeds and Dublin [briefly] over the past nine years or so and I guess if I ventured into Pontefract or Wakefield during the day (something I haven’t done for a couple of years) then I’d be faced with a similar sight; one or two worthy shops bobbing along in a sea of competing bakeries, bookmakers and run-down public houses.

I just find it all so depressing and frustrating.  I don’t know what the official unemployment figures are, but a significant proportion of the people I see wandering around the town centre at lunchtimes appear to be in no rush to be anywhere in particular.  Okay some of these amblers are of pensionable age so I won’t begrudge them the opportunity to while away the day in provincial northern England, but it’d be nice if some of the younger timewasters tried to get a job or at the very least didn’t spend all their benefits on Bensons, cheap lager and Greggs.

Speaking of trying to get a job, I have an interview tomorrow for an internal vacancy.  I have no idea what to expect; the last interview I had I was only 21 and had just graduated from university.  As far as I can recall the interviewers were just keen to know that I could fasten my own shoes and knew how to catch a bus i.e. that I wasn't as thick as two short planks.  And here I am, the Velcro shoes worked!  I envisage tomorrow being a real test of my experience and knowledge... watch this space.

I think I’m off to the pub for a quiet pint and having a night off from cycling – I did 170 miles last week, got soaked on my ride last night and my knee is a little sore… aiming for Friday in the saddle.

Thanks for reading!