Slack Alice

Oops, it seems that regular blogging requires some kind of stamina I've briefly lost!! Giving up your job is one thing - what I didn't expect, was the wealth of activities that would rush in to fill the vacuum of a work-free life.

It's been fairly liberating to spend days at a time without looking at a keyboard for hours on end - but it doesn't do much for your readership stats!

The last month has been a flurry of DIY activity, catching up with friends, a bit of consultancy work and a bit of taking it easy.

The upside of this stuff is that it's given me more of a physical and emotional workout - rather that the pure cranial stuff I'm used to. A pleasant side effect is that I feel increasingly angst free - but on the flip side, I don't have a head full of rants that lend themselves to spikey little blog posts.

With this in mind (cue whale music), here is a nice link I found this morning. Don't know if I'd mentioned it before in my blog, but I took singing lessons from my birthday in August last year, through to Christmas. The objective was to remove a mental block I had about my musical ability. Anyway the upshot was that the block is removed - I'm never going to be musically gifted (X factor is safe for the time being), but I did discover that making some noise that is loosely classed as 'singing' really does lift your spirits. . .

Unfortunately, I was struck mute in the new year as I angsted myself stupid about work. And only last week, did I finally break my silence again - hollering some half remembered lyrics from 'Joseph' whilst I ironed. . .

I'm taking it as a good sign. My cats, however, are horrified.

Also just discovered that Slack Alice is the name of a blues band in Lancs - not a million miles away from me. So I'll link them too.

The No Asshole Rule

Ever pick up a book that's rung so true to your recent life experiences that you spent the whole time you were reading it, muttering statements like 'you got it!' 'too right', 'it's not just me then!' in a slightly tourettes stylie?? Alternatively you find yourself grinning smugly and if you're anything like me, you graffitti the names of people who fit the bill for each insight in the margin, just in case you ever forget what crappy treatment you've had at the hands of these assholes. . .

Nope? It's only me then. . .

Having packed this as a holiday read, for break intended to soothe my nerves after throwing in the towel on a perfectly respectable agency directorship, I couldn't have chosen better.

As the title suggest - the book chronicles the kinds of disrespectful and sometimes downright abusive behaviour many of us have to subject ourselves to in order to build careers, or simple get along in business. Insights into the how and why of corporate misbehaviour are right on the money, but perhaps more importantly the implications of dealing with assholes at work - like the way it can sap your energy or batter your confidence are chronicled in a way that transcends 'poor me' and urges the reader to take action in a non-preachy way.

Ultimately the advice this book dishes out isn't ground breaking. You guessed it - if you work in a place full of assholes, maybe the best thing to do is to make like a tree. .

Leave!!

Alternatively there are a number of useful - but probably not that original - coping strategies. So, if you're dealing with assholes day to day, I'd recommend it as good, cheap therapy.

Blink - and I'm back!

True to my previous post, I have spent the last 10 days trusting my instincts.

Laid on a sunbed soaking up the rays, my instinct was to switch off and think about nothing more taxing than whether to go for a paella or a chateaubriand for dinner each day.

Apologies for the break in service. Will upload a pic as soon as I've figured out my new and spangly digital camera. I love technology in a hands-off kind of way. Great when it works - but I'd rather not get down and dirty with the why or how. . .

An IT guy at work used to say I was a 12 o'clock flasher. . .

People like me have a DVD for 2 years and the digital display is still flashing away at 0:00