hah... well, I can understand your surprise, but essentially I'm willing to dig into my savings to survive, but not to buy computer games. I'd rather keep that money to buy a house, actually. But if I get laid off, rent, food and utilities are acceptable expenditures, I think.

Thanks for the sympathies guys.

Yeah, I've gone into hardcore Spartan savings mode as of now as well. If you see my buy a ton of new games on Steam, that's from a previous humble bundle (for 7 euros) so don't judge me.

Just spent a fun 6-day week telling everyone they're gonna lose their jobs and dealing with the consequences, including susprise ('surprise) sick calls, so pretty knackered. Gonna do laundry and clean up a bit and then start looking for jobs....I got a few months to go so not in a super hurry, but better sooner than later of course.

And yeah, I have a feeling my current company is slowly going down the drain (the news CEO is an idiot, that's for sure) so definitely gonna try and move on. If I can't I'll stay here for now in an entry level position of I have to, but otherwise...i'm outta here. But you never know, maybe the will offer me a good job. Though I highly doubt it.

So, a few months later, and I've managed to convince my company's former client to take me on as an independent consultant/manager. I'll be flying to Paris tomorrow morning and then travel on to Amsterdam a day later to pick up company laptop and meet a few people. I have some horrible flight times (4 and 3 AM) but eh, it's only one week. I'll survive...I think.

So in short, what happened is this: I knew my contact person with the company we were working for in my old job was going on maternity leave. Since I already know half the shit there is to know to do that job (more, actually) I figured, fuck it, let's see if they bite. Offered them to fill in for her, on the condition that I could work from Malta. They obviously knew me already and realized it would be an easy transition to get a mostly trained person instead of a new one, so they were like...sure! We discussed the terms for a few weeks (what kind of pay, contract, location etc) and came to an agreement. The long term plan is that I may move to Paris or Amsterdam if she doesn't return to her job after her maternity leave, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

So I'll be working from my bedroom for considerably more money than before, in a better job, living 10 mins from the beach. I'd say that's a win.

Awesome news, sounds like a big improvement!

Thanks J!

Well, it sure has some perks to it, so while I don't want to be too enthusiastic just yet, it's looking good. Am in Paris today, woke up at 4 and spent a total of 5-6 hours getting to the office. Taxi to airport, plane to Paris, taxi to hotel, walk from hotel to office. Knackered. Did get an hour or two of strolling around the city in and went to the Sacre Coeur, which I love.

Amsterdam next! Like Satis and Shiny, I dont like it that much. But I'll be meeting my parents and one of my brothers there, which will help.

Hey, great news. Way to take that bull by the horns. How long is she out on maternity leave for?

Congrats buddy!

Thanks guys

She's gonna be out for 5 months, but it seems unlikely she will actually be back after that. She basically told me she wouldn't be, but since she obviously hasn't resigned yet (she would do that at the end of her maternity leave if she's smart) it will remain to be seen what happens in December.

So I've worked from home for the first 2 days now. It's pretty amazing. Roll out of bed at 8.30h, eat breakfast, barely get dressed, and do laundry and some basic cooking in the background. Then at 18h, clock out and hit the beach while it's still light. Hell yeah. No commuting, no wasting money on expensive lunches, not having to run around at 13h in the middle of the day (important in Malta in the summer ). I could technically even work from anywhere if I have reliable internet.

Let's hope I can keep this gig going for a while!

Just make sure you can fit through your doorway every now and again.

Hehehe, don't worry, it's something I've considered already. I make sure I get some much needed movement in. In the summer (ie now) I ride my bike to the beach every other day and have a brisk swim. Then I rid up the hill back up to my house, which is around 100m above sea level, so the average gradient is something like 8% as the beach is less than a mile away. I usually arrive sweating like a mofo. Would have been easier if the beach was uphill and I could dive into the water and then take a nice long descent home, but noooo.

In the winter there won't be any swimming, but at least I won't sweat like a bastard when going on long bike ride!

Back to life!

So, i don't hate my job, but I thought I'd provide an update on my own working situation.

We got a new CTO (chief technology officer) who is very strong-willed. This is our 3rd in 2 years. At any rate, he has a plan to transform the company and our products, and he is very gung-ho. This is not a bad thing, necessarily. As you may or may not know, I was in QA (quality assurance), which means I tested software. The past tense may stick out. Soon after he came in, he was looking very aggressively for programmers, so I put my name forward and I was accepted. So for the last 2 months or so, I'm no longer a tester (not full time, at least). I've been doing web programming instead.

But omg... I love learning new things and being challenged, but I'm dealing with tech I've never really worked with before. Javascript libraries I've never seen before, CSS3, HTML5, and CMS's I've never worked with, all running on top of Linux (which I had a very basic understanding of). On top of that I'm learning how to properly use Git for code check-ins, as well as various other things that have now slipped my mind. I'm now working 50-60 hours a week typically, including nights and weekends. To top it off, I'm not being paid any more than I was previously. That wasn't the point, but it's amusing. Sorta.

Anyway, that's where I'm at. Every day is a bit of a struggle. I have my tasks, so I work at it, hit a wall, and beat my head against the wall for minutes or hours or days. So far, I've beaten my way through every wall, but it is very, very stressful. On the positive side, I'm learning a lot. Besides specific technologies, I'm getting better at finding answers and reading API documentation, so that's a positive. I plan on persisting on this until they fire me or I get good. I'm hoping this gets easy over the next few months, but we will see. Right now, it's just stress.

Just remember, if it was easy everyone could do it.

In a new job myself as of Oct 4th. Slightly better money. Enormously better job. Actual progression opportunity.

It's still HRIT related, but this time I'm 100% dedicated to project management, whereas previous jobs was 50% PM, 50% configuration. This suits me because I no longer have the patience and focus for configuration.

So far it's great. Everyone seems very friendly and open. There are some good signs of a healthy corporate culture, and I am well looked after. I have spent several nights away from home already using a new A4 pool car. I have trips booked for Germany and Austria in Jan/Feb.