(no subject)
Well, go on - if you insist, a serious post. (And no, I don’t care if anyone DID insist - you’re getting it anyway :p )
This is the time of year when people spend time looking back at the past year - well, between now and New Year, at least - and it’s got me thinking and deciding what I’ll be trying to do, or not do, in 2008. Personally I can’t believe it’s almost 2008 already - I’m still getting used to writing 2007 on the invoices, for goodness sake!
Looking back at 2007, whilst some good things have happened (software and the like, potential business), some things seem to have almost gone in reverse. Simply put, I used to take a risk, take a chance on things, not worry about the cost/risk/whatever; I was willing to give it a shot, whatever it may be, in previous years. Looking back on 2007 I’m getting too comfortable in whatever position I’m in, unwilling to make a change. And that ties me into what I’ve been tempted to do for a while and never got around to (as always) - I want to move. And I’ve always said that if I moved, it wouldn’t be to somewhere else in the UK.
Now I should be clear on this - I’m not thinking of change for the hell of it and no other reason. But I’m looking at it this way … I live in the lovely area of Nuneaton, which is (and I mean this the nicest possible way) the dullest, most backward area I’ve ever known, and hell, I’ve lived in a few. We have possibly the most expensive public transport in the area (and certainly way more expensive than the surrounding areas). Peace and quiet is rapidly eroding due to the sweet little kids which occupied the area turning into utter bastards and racing quad bikes down the road, setting fire to anything that doesn’t move fast enough and putting windows through (the latter happening about 100 metres down the road from me - conveniently the house of my sister’s ex-boyfriend, who himself is a psycho.) That aside, I have no friends in the area - I have plenty of friends to be sure, but nowhere near where I am; most of the ones in the UK I don’t see already and contact via t’internet, and the same goes for the many dotted around the world right now. In fact, the only thing that would possibly hold my interest in the area is my job .. I like the people I work with, but even that isn’t ideal; I only work three days a week, get paid the absolute minimum available and get no holiday into the package too. It’s the people that keep me there - and regarding the software I’m writing and selling through them as in my last post, that’s under a separate agreement that we’ve already agreed at the start won’t be affected by where I’m working (it’s an agreement for sales between me and the company, in no way tied to my Admin job). I’d just miss them if I moved, and would see them less - but that’s what phones and the internet are for!
With that in mind, it SHOULD be possible for me to move if I wanted to. I have a house (and a mortgage to go with it); given that the UK housing market excludes about 80% of people who want to buy a house as no-one can afford it, renting a place is the most popular choice, and I could use that option to pay the (nice cheap) mortgage, and perhaps a little money on top of that. Heck, if I get paid for the aforementioned software then this wouldn’t even be a concern, but I’m not counting on that! If I had a choice, I would like to move somewhere within The Netherlands/Benelux/Whatever it likes to be called these days and try my hand at working there for a while.
As I said, I’m not just jumping at this idea without thinking about it. I’m fully aware that having a holiday and meeting friends in a country is not the same as living there. I don’t for one moment think of it as an idyllic paradise with no problems whatsoever - every country has it’s issues, but perhaps some new issues would be a nice change from this country’s ones ;) I’m also acutely aware that I’m not the best qualified person around, and whilst I have every confidence in my work and can pick anything up quickly, that would likely impact on the type of work I could do. I’m also aware that renting a place to live is no cheaper there than anywhere else … in short, I’m not expecting it to be a dream-sequence where nothing goes wrong *grins* I’m aware it would be hard work. What I’m trying to do is make a nice list of “Pros and Cons” to balance things out, and get people’s two-penneth worth if they’d be so kind ;)
So let me see …… off the top of my head, and yes, a LOT more will follow!
Pros:
• Chance to experience a different culture and lifestyle
• Chance to increase my language skills
• 99% of anything I own will work over there (bonus!)
• Close enough to UK for me to pop back whenever I want to, money permitting
• I tend to adapt quickly to new situations, so would be a new challenge
• I’m a fairly “internet” kinda guy - I communicate with most people online already!
Cons:
• Language barrier. I think Dutch sounds great as a language, but people may as well speak Klingon to me; I find this amusing, employers will likely not!
• Would make business slightly trickier with the software side of things, but not hugely so.
• Qualifications. This will affect me as much out of the UK as it does within though!
• A LOT of work involved. Not sure if this should be listed as a “Con” - I can’t use effort as a reason not to do something!
I have the feeling this list is going to expand quite a lot ;)
Also, there’s something else to bear in mind - there’s nothing saying that if I don’t like it after trying it, I can’t return to the UK and pick up where I left off (kind of a “taster” if you will.)
This is the time of year when people spend time looking back at the past year - well, between now and New Year, at least - and it’s got me thinking and deciding what I’ll be trying to do, or not do, in 2008. Personally I can’t believe it’s almost 2008 already - I’m still getting used to writing 2007 on the invoices, for goodness sake!
Looking back at 2007, whilst some good things have happened (software and the like, potential business), some things seem to have almost gone in reverse. Simply put, I used to take a risk, take a chance on things, not worry about the cost/risk/whatever; I was willing to give it a shot, whatever it may be, in previous years. Looking back on 2007 I’m getting too comfortable in whatever position I’m in, unwilling to make a change. And that ties me into what I’ve been tempted to do for a while and never got around to (as always) - I want to move. And I’ve always said that if I moved, it wouldn’t be to somewhere else in the UK.
Now I should be clear on this - I’m not thinking of change for the hell of it and no other reason. But I’m looking at it this way … I live in the lovely area of Nuneaton, which is (and I mean this the nicest possible way) the dullest, most backward area I’ve ever known, and hell, I’ve lived in a few. We have possibly the most expensive public transport in the area (and certainly way more expensive than the surrounding areas). Peace and quiet is rapidly eroding due to the sweet little kids which occupied the area turning into utter bastards and racing quad bikes down the road, setting fire to anything that doesn’t move fast enough and putting windows through (the latter happening about 100 metres down the road from me - conveniently the house of my sister’s ex-boyfriend, who himself is a psycho.) That aside, I have no friends in the area - I have plenty of friends to be sure, but nowhere near where I am; most of the ones in the UK I don’t see already and contact via t’internet, and the same goes for the many dotted around the world right now. In fact, the only thing that would possibly hold my interest in the area is my job .. I like the people I work with, but even that isn’t ideal; I only work three days a week, get paid the absolute minimum available and get no holiday into the package too. It’s the people that keep me there - and regarding the software I’m writing and selling through them as in my last post, that’s under a separate agreement that we’ve already agreed at the start won’t be affected by where I’m working (it’s an agreement for sales between me and the company, in no way tied to my Admin job). I’d just miss them if I moved, and would see them less - but that’s what phones and the internet are for!
With that in mind, it SHOULD be possible for me to move if I wanted to. I have a house (and a mortgage to go with it); given that the UK housing market excludes about 80% of people who want to buy a house as no-one can afford it, renting a place is the most popular choice, and I could use that option to pay the (nice cheap) mortgage, and perhaps a little money on top of that. Heck, if I get paid for the aforementioned software then this wouldn’t even be a concern, but I’m not counting on that! If I had a choice, I would like to move somewhere within The Netherlands/Benelux/Whatever it likes to be called these days and try my hand at working there for a while.
As I said, I’m not just jumping at this idea without thinking about it. I’m fully aware that having a holiday and meeting friends in a country is not the same as living there. I don’t for one moment think of it as an idyllic paradise with no problems whatsoever - every country has it’s issues, but perhaps some new issues would be a nice change from this country’s ones ;) I’m also acutely aware that I’m not the best qualified person around, and whilst I have every confidence in my work and can pick anything up quickly, that would likely impact on the type of work I could do. I’m also aware that renting a place to live is no cheaper there than anywhere else … in short, I’m not expecting it to be a dream-sequence where nothing goes wrong *grins* I’m aware it would be hard work. What I’m trying to do is make a nice list of “Pros and Cons” to balance things out, and get people’s two-penneth worth if they’d be so kind ;)
So let me see …… off the top of my head, and yes, a LOT more will follow!
Pros:
• Chance to experience a different culture and lifestyle
• Chance to increase my language skills
• 99% of anything I own will work over there (bonus!)
• Close enough to UK for me to pop back whenever I want to, money permitting
• I tend to adapt quickly to new situations, so would be a new challenge
• I’m a fairly “internet” kinda guy - I communicate with most people online already!
Cons:
• Language barrier. I think Dutch sounds great as a language, but people may as well speak Klingon to me; I find this amusing, employers will likely not!
• Would make business slightly trickier with the software side of things, but not hugely so.
• Qualifications. This will affect me as much out of the UK as it does within though!
• A LOT of work involved. Not sure if this should be listed as a “Con” - I can’t use effort as a reason not to do something!
I have the feeling this list is going to expand quite a lot ;)
Also, there’s something else to bear in mind - there’s nothing saying that if I don’t like it after trying it, I can’t return to the UK and pick up where I left off (kind of a “taster” if you will.)