A Break

For no definable reason, I haven't had a holiday in about ten years.

What I mean by that is "I've taken time off work, but I haven't gone away on a proper holiday". The last one I took was to Auckland with my folks. Prior to that, I took touring holidays in the States with my oldest friend for pretty much three years running.

In part, the holidays stopped because I started saving for a flat and then, once I bought a flat, because there was a mortgage to pay.

This year, my folks invited me along on a 'big family holiday' to Wales with my sister and her family. It didn't necessarily seem like a great idea... and in the end, faced with a choice between taking a holiday with my family and bumming around at home (or, y'know, doing another week of temping work), I chose to face all the possibilities - good and bad - offered by being locked up with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and neice in a converted stables in north west Wales.

While there was no internet out there, as such (brother-in-law found a 'sweet spot', on the arm of a large leather chair in the lounge, where he could slave his phone to his laptop and use it to connect, but it wasn't consistent) I did take along a notepad, hoping to scrawl out some kind of travelogue or, heavens forfend, perhaps even do some creative writing. The idea was that the travelogue would be typed up upon my return, and uploaded to this 'ere blog.

Sadly, while it started out as a reasonable travelogue... it quickly very descended into "OMGMYFAMILYISSOANNOYING!", and so the plan changed...

The overall experience was great (apart from the food poisoning, which everyone else miraculously avoided), and I think we all came away very keen to return, though perhaps at a different time of year. Sometime when it wouldn't be raining as much... Sometime, therefore, that Wales is not part of the British Isles and subject to its ridiculous weather 'patterns'. Or spring/summer... at a stretch.

In my first week back at work after the break, I felt more awake, more alert... My concentration was better, my memory was clearer... Things just seemed to click into place more easily, and I got more done than even I'd expected.

At work, that is.

But now, a week after returning, I've entered the 'unfulfilling' period of my current temping run. The more interesting job didn't book me quickly enough, so the less interesting job has me for three or four days a week until Christmas. On the upside - or so I thought - I'd be training their newbie and setting some ads for their next big project. On the downside, what's happened is that their newbie is getting sent on a proper training course (though I'm to supplement her learning) and the ads were set by the Sub-Editors in the few days I was at the other job between last week and today... So my workload has only risen marginally, and what little extra I have to do is mind-numbing.

Funnily, my colleague at the other job, suggested to me yesterday that I should ask to be released from the unfulfilling job because she'd definitely have interesting work for me... and then, today, one of the managers at the unfulfilling job asked about the possibility of dragging me in for extra days if needed. I can't ask to be released because they firmly believe I'll be busy (sending emails, making phone calls, filing copy... Blah... I could do most of it with my eyes closed) and, while I don't believe I'll be at all busy, I can see the need for someone to be there monitoring copy. I can't accept extra days from them because the other place has already booked them till the end of the year.

Thankfully, the early part of next year is looking more interesting... a final three days at the unfulfilling job, then three months of the fun job (completing what would have been a twelve month maternity cover contract were it not for silly political machinations which have since been backpeddled some way)...

There's a lot more to be said... but it's late, and I'm going to get some kip now...