I’m a bit less flooply about the whole new job thing now. I’m still floopy but a lot less so, the whole fish out of water thing is definitely part of it, and that is starting to subside now, what with me actually managing to write some code today.

Of course it’s all going to change very soon, it looks like we are as a team about to move buildings. This is both a good and a bad thing, it’s a bad thing because we are moving out of the lovely grade II* listed building into another one of Liverpool 60’s office blocks. However it’s a good thing because the whole team will be in one office not one and a little alcove which is where I am at the moment; and the whole moving office thing will shuffle things about a bit, one of the things I’m a bit worried about in the new office is being off in a corner, with not much chance to bond. Hopefully an office move will remove that problem.

It turns out changing jobs is a bigger wrench than I gave it credit. It’s been a long day, mainly because on your first day there is very little to do beyond reading, and that can make the day go on. Of course in your more silent moments you think about how much of your life has just changed; which can make you a ‘bit’ sad, and you think was all the upheaval worth it, but looking back you do have the rose tinted glasses on; and you have to remind yourself of that.

All that said, I don’t want you thinking I don’t like my new job, it’s just very soon. It turns out I need a short period of mourning first for the passing of the other job I had the whole of my adult life*. People did ask if I was going to have a break between them, and given how much holiday I’d taken I did think I needed the rest. But maybe I needed the gap to come to terms with moving on (not that I would have, because I would have just been on holiday), or maybe I just need to go to my new job for more than one day*, and get to know new people, and do new stuff.

*I’m in a emphasis kind of place, I need to remind myself that’s all

So I’ve wasted no time, and transformed my leaving present of vouchers for George Henry Lee, into a shiny new digital camera, and learned a few things along the way.

I’m now the proud owner of a Sony Cybershot DSC-600 (Nice name Sony!), and after a day ? It rocks! Now remember I’m comparing it to a quite old nobrand digital camera, which while good, did have some issues; but the Sony just goes way beyond what I was expecting to get.

One of the reasons for that is the price, which dropped ?20 on the website overnight, and then price in the shop was another ?23 cheaper again. This meant that the camera coupled with a usually quite expensive 512mb memory stick, actually cost me ?10.95 above and beyond my leaving vouchers! I got an outstanding Sony camera for ?10.

The clever dumb balance was then restored on the way home; when I didn’t shut the car boot properly in the car park and we scratched it against the roof when we went down one of the ramps, that has actually left me a bit depressed, because it’s like the time I fixed the toilet only to brake the sink, or as it turns out the other day where I thought I had turned the freezer up, only to later turn it off instead of down.

Still I’m sure I’ll get over it, I’m in between jobs at the moment and my head is a bit spinny (that’s my excuse for now anyway)

So what did we learn?

1. George Henry Lee is cheaper in the shop than on the internet, not the other way around
2. Don’t let Kevin do anything responsible when he’s got a new toy ever.

current mood: completely floopy

I’ve left JMU now, we did have the awkward leaving gathering in the middle of the floor, where loads of people came (Friday afternoon, nice stroll to the fifth floor). Stuart did the leaving speech thing, which he does much better than Jim. Summing up my 9 years ;he counts the placement year and the bit in-between, which I suppose you should if your being honest as to how long you’ve been there, it turns out a good summary of my career at JMU can be told in 5 stories

• I had an incredibly badly written placement CV, but they gave me the job anyway
• In my interview for my ‘real’ job, I was asked to identify earl gray tea bags from a line up and I got it wrong!, but they gave me the job anyway.
• Stuart and I had a phase of going the ‘gym’ which in reality was the bar above the gym, playing pool
• Stuart claims I poisoned him the time I introduced him to Vodka and Red bull in the 147 in town.
• during my life at JMU I didn’t take things like stationary, I took the head of CWIS.

It was quite emotional, and yes I did have to hold it back (I am bloke!). I do think I will miss the place, but now is the weekend to look forward. I have new job on Monday must get excited! I will get all university sick in a week or two.

oh and I got loads of gift vouchers, so tomorrow I can go replace my busted digital camera, thanks everyone!

*Jmu World was the name of the news section of the website for quite a long time, you had to be there really.

Today is my last day working for Liverpool John Moores University (ahhhhh), but on Monday I start work for Liverpool City Council (yippieee), and while I like the idea of it; It is not true that I will only work for places with Liverpool in the title.

It does feel all a bit anticlimactic really, I mean yes I’m sure they are going to have the gathering gaggle of people in the middle of the floor, followed by a few awkward words from Jim, and then people will expect me to say something profound and/or heartfelt, but I am sure I should feel a bit more emotional than I do.

Maybe it just hasn’t sunken in yet; Next week when its been a few days and I haven’t heard the words blackboard or Athens uttered in anger then it will sink in. I’m under no illusion that working for the council will come with it’s own set of unique politics, but at least they will be new politics.

Ruth is a bit worried that I don’t seem at all excited by the prospect of my new job, and in truth so am I, but as I’ve said, it’s probably because it hasn’t actually dawned on me yet that as of today I won’t work in the university any more.