Leaders from the G20 countries are currently visiting London to discuss Very Important Things.  I have no idea if these Very Meaningful Chats will translate into anything useful, but hope so.  Their visit has made daily life in the city more interesting than usual.

The protests started on Sunday with the Put People First March - which we would ( Read more... )

Barbara, the member of our team who got made redundant, left yesterday.  She didn’t want any fuss, so we just went to the pub for a lunch and then she left early.  Her bother is paying for her and her daughter to spend Christmas with them in Venice and then, in January, she starts job-hunting.  This is not a good time to be job hunting, there’s so ( Read more... )

Today they told us who is being kept on at work and who is leaving at the start of January.  I’m one of the people being kept on.  Good for me, but bad for someone else.

The text is from Genesis 22:

“Some years later God decided to test Abraham, so he spoke to him. Abraham answered, "Here I am, LORD."

The LORD said, "Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar." So Abraham got up early the ( Read more... )

Department meeting called this morning.  It was obvious it was going to be bad when the HR lady walked in and the two managers looked as if they wanted to go and have a good cry.  As we are a corporate service, we get to be restructured first.  Three redundancies have been announced and the consultation period starts next week.  One of them is in ( Read more... )

As I mentioned previously, Christmas was off.  But the company has decided that some element of Christmas cheer should be permitted and has come up with A Cunning Plan.  Small parties - up to 100 people in each - have been organized.  These will be held in the office in the board rooms - all mahogany and upholstery - and catered in house.  From 6pm ( Read more... )

The US government has rejigged the rescue package for the Large US Owned Financial Institution I Work For.  It has taken a shareholding in the company, lowered the interest rates on loans and extended their length.  They have also taken the stuff that caused all the trouble - the residential mortgage-backed securities and credit default swap ( Read more... )

The large US owned financial institution that I work for - the one that has been nationalised by the US Government - has announced what it intends to sell off in order to remain in business / repay the massive amount of money it has borrowed.  (Yes, I work there!)

Everything is up for sale apart from the general insurance businesses and some ( Read more... )

Caught the advert for “Newsnight” last night, with Paxman saying something along the lines of, “With large US owned financial institutions crashing, what else is there but a sliver lining?”

The large US owned insurer that I work for is currently trying to flog off non-core businesses - or the family silver - in order to try and stay afloat.  And ( Read more... )