Old Blog 2009-01-15

Blog thurs 15 jan 09

Stood under the clock on the railway platform, listening to the seconds tick away in time with the flashing red lights of the signal up the line. Those are seconds of my life ticking away while I stand here doing nothing; waiting for my train as the platform fills with commuters who will cram on to the train like sardines, doing their best to ignore each other while competing with the person sat next to them or opposite them for arm and leg room.

Seconds of my life (now accounting for five minutes) ticking by as I continue the two and a half hour journey into London. That will be over five hours travelling for about six hours work with the customer. More efficient than them all coming to me I suppose.

The train will be here soon so I need to be ready for the race to get a decent seat.

Wow. I made it! Not only did I get a seat, but it is facing the right way (I hate travelling backwards) and it is in the middle of a window – so no window frame blocking my view. Its dark at the moment so all the window shows me is my reflection and the occasional street light as we gather speed on our way out of oxford.

The other reflection is the one going round and round in my head. Like a hall of mirrors I seem to be reflecting back on myself and not really going anywhere.

Its been over six months since I moved companies. The first three months I didn’t deliver any training at all. I managed to pass a couple of Microsoft.

I thought I was going to be able to avoid SharePoint, but no, the new company wants to offer courses in that. So as well as enhancing my knowledge of Project I am also learning SharePoint.

I think the biggest challenge is lack of real world experience. As an office trainer I have lots of personal experience using word excel PowerPoint and outlook. However I have not had to manage a project or install SharePoint. While I can learn the theory and my way around the applications it the holistic knowledge that comes with real experience that is lacking, although maybe that will come with time.

Of course the big question, well may be not 60 million dollar type question, maybe more like five or ten thousand pound type question is this: am I doing what I want to be doing where I want to be doing it?

We spent a week in the Lake District after xmas and I am forever going back there in my mind. Wouldn’t it be great to live and work there actually on the land, up a mountain somewhere?

Actually probably not. After spending all week working on a mountain would I want to climb it at the weekend? Probably not. Living there all the time would I come to take it for granted? Probably yes, in the same way I never visit any of the museums or galleries in Oxford.

I could move closer. That way it would not be such a major undertaking to spend a weekend there? Moving further north would put us closer to north Wales and Snowdonia as well.

 

Now there is a thought. All I need is a job up there now.

 

Well it is now 15 hours after I wrote the last paragraph and I am on the train home, waiting for it to leave Paddington. I have just spent a very pleasant evening with a guy I used to work with. He is now a training manager for a company based in London. They offered me a job as well and I am glad I chose the company I did. Maybe I would be a manager by now, who knows?

 

What I do know is that it is not always greener on the other side.

Also, those people who appreciate the same things as you are worth hanging on to. Unlike some of my friends, this guy totally gets what it means to climb a mountain.