Misfits Mid-Life Crisis Adventures in East & South West London.
Week 378, Saturday 11th until Friday 17th September 2021.
If you have read this ramble for any length of time you will know I am a call centre monkey. I fell in to this type of work a long time ago, the office I worked in started to take calls which eventually ended up with nothing but calls all day, leaving letters and emails to be dealt with by others.
This week I handed in my noticed. I have never hid the fact that I hate the job, talking on the phone all day is draining at the end of a busy day I am actually sick of hearing my voice. Also the constant repeating myself is tiring (an idea I had a long time ago is I should have recorded all the regularly repeated phrases, so I would only need to press various buttons on the keyboard to reply to questions. That could have been my million pound app solution to call centre hell. It’s a little late now, bugger).
The idea of quitting came just before the recent family holiday to Ibiza, I knew immediately the date that I wanted to leave Friday 24th September. The writing of the resignation email was simple, I didn’t say a lot of things I really wanted to because I might want a good reference in the future. But I did thank management for all their help, and they have actually helped me over the years.
What’s next is something I have been asking for a while, I have been applying for new roles but so far no one has replied inviting me to an interview. Whatever I fall into will only be until early January 22 which is when I plan on going travelling. Earlier this week it did cross my mind that I have lasted in the job this long, surly I could do a few more months. That thought didn’t last long when another caller annoyed me. Another reason I felt it was time to go is because staff will be expected back in the office. One thing I knew for sure is I didn’t want to travel an hour and a half on various trains to then sit in a huge, badly air conditioned, overly lit very noisy (because everyone’s on the phone) office. I haven’t been there since March 2020 and have not missed it or my colleagues once.
Many times over the years I have thought about quitting, but the moneys good and like a lot of people I have been in a rut. Pressing send on the resignation email was the best thing I have done in a long time. I have plans and ideas, while looking for work; hopefully it won’t be for long. All I want is a nice back office admin role, one that doesn’t involve chatting the same rubbish constantly on the phone. Roll on January 22.
And Now For Something Completely Different……
Lorry drivers or the lack of them are in the news a lot at the moment. I definitely appreciate and try to help my fellow professional drivers such as bus, coach and delivery drivers of all kind when I can. Of course I get frustrated; it cannot be an easy job at the best of times I definitely couldn’t do it.
This week I saw a large lorry waiting to enter a busy main road; a number of cars in front carried on and didn’t let the heavy vehicle out. Because there was enough space in front I moved into the middle lane so the lorry could enter the flow of traffic. As I past I just happened to look at the same time as the lorry driver glanced down at me and gave me a thumbs up. For the rest of my journey I must have had a “special” look on my face, because that thumbs up really made my day. The rest of the drive was quick and easy possibly because other divers steered when they caught a glance of my strangely happy face, as a rule drivers are not happy.
Another reason I respect gigantic lorries, with a small turn of the steering wheel they could take me out without blinking.
And Finally……
A very pretty nervous cat that has recently started to visit the garden, jumped out of the open French windows as I approached after watering the garden. My friend working in the room had not noticed the intruder. The look of shock on its cute face made me smile. For the next couple of hours I kept seeing it walking around the garden looking back at the house. Hopefully in time it will trust me enough to be stroked and made a fuss of.
A man on the phone asked if I could text him information because he didn’t have any hands (I resisted saying anything just in case he really didn’t have any hands). After some rustling I clearly heard the flush of a loo. A few seconds later he said he was ready to take the information down. What was more concerning he had not washed his hands.
My Mid Life Crisis Conts……
This week I have watched:
“15 Storeys High”, (S1, ep 3 to ep 6)(S2, ep 1 & ep 2). “Alma’s Not Normal”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 6). “Blake’s 7”, (SB, ep 7). “Click”, (TX: 11/09/22). “Colony”, (S3, ep 11 & ep 13). “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space”, (S1, ep 3 & ep 4, TX: 13/09/21). “Entourage”, (S3, ep 12 to ep 20)(S4, ep 1 to ep 12)(S5, ep 1 to ep 4). “Final Space”, (S3, ep 1 to ep 5). “Gardeners World “, (2020: ep 17, TX: 10/07/20)(ep 26, TX: 11/09/20)(ep 27, TX: 18/09/20)(ep 28, TX: 25/09/21)(2021: ep 25, TX: 10/09/21). “Inspiration4 launch: Live”, (SpaceX/YouTube)(TX: 15/09/21). “Late Night Mash”, (S1, ep 2, TX: 09/09/21)(ep 3, TX: 16/09/21). “Life Drawing Live!”, (TX: 12/09/21). “Spitting Image (2021)”, (Britbox)(S2, ep 1, TX: 11/09/21). “Stargate Atlantis”, (S2, ep 12 & ep 13). “Star Trek (Original Series)”, (S3, ep 12). “Star Trek Lower Deck”, (S2, ep 6). “The Bureau Of Magical Things”, (S1, ep 10). “The Cleaner”, (S1, ep 1 to ep 6). “The Golden Girls, (S3, ep 15 to ep 23)(S4, ep 1 to ep 6). “The Walking Dead”, (S11, ep 4). “Van Helsing”, (S4, ep 7 to ep 9).
This week I have listening to:
“30 Animals That Made Us Smarter”, (BBC World Service)(S2, ep 12, 13/09/21). “Betamax Video Club”, (ep 64, 05/03/20). “Box Of Delights”, (S3, ep 2, 07/02/20). “Coronavirus Global Update”, (BBC World Service)(11/09/21)(12/09/21) (13/09/21)(14/09/21)(15/09/21)(16/09/21)(17/09/21). “Dalek 63•88 PropCast”, (10/09/21). “Doctor Who”, (The Incomparable/TeeVee)(S11, ep 8, 26/11/18). “Don’t You Want Me: Trailer (Betamax Video Club)”, (16/09/21). “Full Disclosure With James O’Brien”, (S2, ep 56, “Joe Lycett”, 29/07/21). “Mystery Hour”, (16/09/21). “NASA: Houston We Have A Podcast”, (ep 213, 17/09/21). “Nick Abbot Whole Show”, (11/09/21)(12/09/21). “Radio Astronomy (The Sky At Night Magazine)”, (26/09/16) (14/06/21)(17/09/21). “Rob Beckett And Josh Widdecombe Parenting Hell”, (S3, ep 19, 14/09/21)(ep 20, 17/09/21). “Smersh Pod”, (27/07/18). “Space And Things”, (STP55, 16/09/21). “Space Soliders Podcast – Flash Gordon’s Trip To Mars”, (Chapter Thirteen, take 1 & take 2, “The Miracle Of Magic”, 04/09/21)(Chapter Fourteen, “A Beast At Bay”, 11/09/21). “Star Trek Universe Podcast”, (31/12/18)(13/08/21)(13/09/21). “The Adam Buxton Podcast”, (ep 160, 13/09/21). “The Audio Guide To Babylon 5”, (The Incomparable)(ep 45, 26/01/16). “The Friendship Onion”, (S1, ep 18, 14/09/21). “The Space Above Us”, (141, 02/09/21)(142, 16/09/21). “This Week In Time Travel”, (The Incomparable/TeeVee)(26/11/18). “Toby Hadoke’s Happy Times And Places”, (22.2, “The Forest Of Fear”, 13/09/21)(22.3, “The Firemaker”, 17/09/21). “WTB”, (S3, ep 5 (ep 48), 17/09/21). “What’s Your Problem With Nick Abbot And Carol Mcgiffin”, (13/09/21). “Wolf And Owl”, (ep 41, 15/09/21).
Songs I enjoyed this week, were by:
“Morrissey”, “ABBA (Classics)”. “Baccara“, “Cold War Kids”, “Elastica”, “Ian Dury”, “Inspiral Carpets”, “Kate Bush”, “Kings Of Leon”, “La Roux”, “Manic Street Preachers”, “New Order”, “Nat King Cole”, “Nik Kershaw”, “Orange Juice”, “Pulp”, “St Etienne”, “Santigold”, “Shed Seven”, “Suede”, “The Beastie Boys “, “The Happy Mondays”.
Misfits Mid-Life Crisis........ 