Advanced notice that this website will disappear sometime around 17th October 2005. At the same time, my email address will cease to work and my telephone will be disconnected. Right now, I'm at the mercy of British Telecommunications PLC as to when and if any of this stuff ever works again. In any case, the Demon Internet account will probably not be coming back this time.
It looks like I may be on the move again. This means disappearing from the internet for who knows how long, and lots of confusion just at the time I could do without it - but hopefully its a sensible move. There is very little to keep me here, and the desperate no man's land of the Town Centre is becoming tiresome and dangerous. The idea of being nearer to my family and away from my workplace is very appealing.
The simple fact is that I moved to Weston for all the wrong reasons. I fervently denied that - about a week after I arrived if I recall correctly - but it is sadly true. Just another example of me doing what I think people want me to, rather than what I ought to do. To move was naturally a good thing, but the eight years I've been here have become progressively more solitary and uncomfortable. I think I'd be happier being alone in pleasant surroundings with logical plumbing and usable heating appliances.
Everyone I know will say it's my own fault I'm stranded here, feeling miserable - but I'm actually not. I'm relatively happy, but I think I could be happier. My new place will be within a stone's throw from a curry house, a chinese restaurant, a computer shop and a pub serving fine ales. The railway station is a short walk away, and I'll certainly see my little nephew more often.
This time I'm confident I'm moving for the right reasons.
Well, for all the turbulence and trouble of the last couple of weeks, my final day at the office arrived and passed quietly enough. Mad dash to write up, pass on and hand over as much as possible of the informal stuff I do. Luckily, I'd spent some time documenting the formal procedures earlier on in the year - much to the disgust of then colleagues who didn't feel that it was 'work'!
My colleagues sent me off into the world with a book token and a survival kit including coffee and biscuits, so clearly my priorities have been recognised! A lunchtime pub visit was rescheduled for after work due to some protests, and a few stalwarts turned up - one or two leaving soon after due to other committments. As ever, it was down to the same old two of us to see the evening through to closing time.
Considering how I've left other jobs in the past this was quite low key - no speeches but then again, no recriminations!
It's been a turbulent week, and frustratingly I can't share the most important developments yet - especially since I know I've recently gained new readers. Suffice to say I'm having a small private celebration here with a drop of Laphroig and some music.
I hope that in the coming week I can share a little more about what's coming up - new challenges, some of them seemingly impossibly tricky. Most of all, I've finally proved to myself that I'm capable of moving ahead, which has been a long time coming.
Lost::MikeGTN
I've had a home on the web for more years than I care to remember, and a few kind souls persuade me it's worth persisting with keeping it updated. This current incarnation of the site is centred around the blog posts which began back in 1999 as 'the daylog' and continued through my travels and tribulations during the following years.
I don't get out and about nearly as much these days, but I do try to record significant events and trips for posterity. You may also have arrived here by following the trail to my former music blog Songs Heard On Fast Trains. That content is preserved here too.
