Good Bye 2014

It is now January 2015 and much of the country is preparing to return to their chosen vocation after an all to brief Christmas break. Usually I would be joining tomorrows mass migration to London, but not this year. Why?, I hear you ask. Well, it's due to a decision that I made in early December 2013. I was unhappy in the direction that my career had been taking and decided that it was time to move on to bigger, better and exciting things. To this end I took a position on an exciting and forward looking project that one day in the not to distant future will revolutionise the control of trains throughout this green and present land.

Therefore it was with great excitement and a renewed vigour for life that I entered 2014. However, this sense of well being and excitement didn't last much more than 6 months. In July my Dad passed away after suffering worsening health over the last few years. As you might imagine this hit me pretty hard and meant that my Mum needed an awful lot of help and support. The paperwork is still driving us mad, but it's largely under control and I am helping my Mum to look to the future positively. After all, she now has the opportunity to think about herself rather than care for Dad (which she did brilliantly).

In August we all, including Mum, took our folding camper on a trip to Yorkshire. It was Mum's first camping trip for the best part of a decade and all had a great time. We had chosen Yorkshire because it has beautiful countryside, interesting towns and my Dad's brothers family live in York. To be honest I had quite forgotten just how amazing Yorkshire is. I could easily move there permanently.

In September my Wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary, which is quite an achievement in anyones book. We were also looking forward to our late summer holiday in Tenerife, which was all arranged with the help of my cousin (Thank you Sherri).

Then in early October, that exciting new position reinventing the UK's railways came to an unceremonious and sudden end. Thankfully our Tenerife holiday was paid for in full, including spending money. This meant that we could still go and forget about our troubles, for a while at least.

The next milestone was also in October, when our Son came of age and was very proud to be legally able to buy his Dad a pint. It was a pint of Doombar and I enjoyed it very much indeed.

Christmas has been a muted affair generally, but we did find time to visit some of my Mums family in Bristol and visit the engineering wonder that is Brunel's suspension bridge in Clifton.

As you may have guessed, I have been job hunting like a Ninja. I've had a few interviews, with varying levels of success. Christmas has rather got in the way and I'm hoping to hear some good news in the next few days and have another interview in a week or so. In the meantime, I decided to take a leaf out of my Dad's book and got myself a temporary job as a Christmas Casual with the Royal Mail. It was supposed to be for a month until 24th December, but they keep calling me in to do more. I have also applied for a temporary position as a Postman while I decide my next move.

Who knows what 2015 will being us. I have a few ideas, but which why the chips will fall is currently in the lap of the Gods.

Regards



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