Getting an new job in normal times takes ages. There are advertisements, applications, shortlisting, interviews, various checks, references, that kind of thing. In 2006 in the NHS though, suddenly people get moved around at the drop of a hat. People are leaving, lots of people, it is the uncertainty you know and sometimes those people have been the only one in their organisation who has a particular qualification or does that job. So people can come back from holiday on one day and on the next they are ‘asked’ if they mind moving to a new department, new job and even a new NHS trust. Yes really. When I say ask, I mean ask in the loosest terms. It is really quite crazy.

Today, I lost my manager, she has a new job starting next week. She is happy as it is closer to home. I am kind of shocked.

Life is really crazy!

So tomorrow is the first anniversary of my life as a blogger! On Saturday 27th August 2005 I joined blogger and made my first tentative entry. Little did I know what a complete compulsion the whole thing would become or that I was entering such an amazingly diverse world. When I started and called my blog ‘Life in the NHS’, I thought it would be great fun to write about my work, and my life in general. I thought it would be most amazing if anyone actually read the stuff I wrote, though never really thought they would.

I think this is where my biggest challenge lies. Most bloggers are writing for an audience, not just for themselves, otherwise you might as well just write a personal diary and lock it away (I wasn’t very good at those as a teenager). But when you write about work (particularly) there is a slight dichotomy between wanting to be noticed and fearing that you might be noticed only too well. This was highlighted for me this week, I really want to write about the disciplinary hearing I had to present the management case at this week, but actually I can’t. The chances are that no one I know will ever read it, but actually I can’t take that chance.

As I reach my anniversary then, I am seeking to re-evaluate what I want to do here and think of where my blog might take me in the future. As far as work is concerned, I am about to go through a process which will probably see me having to reapply for my own job. Well I can’t see why I won’t be able to write about that. There are changes happening and new leadership emerging I might not be able to be very candid about but we will have to see. There is my MSc in Strategic leadership, I am half way though and should right now be writing good and profound words in an assignment (I will shortly honest)! I guess as I approach the climax of the course with the dissertation there will be plenty to write about here. Lastly there is the life I call home. In a way I would like to write exclusively about that, but I guess the fun of this whole thing is that you can be different people in different posts. You can have fun, you can be serious and somewhere somehow someone flits past your site and reads some of it.

I think I am trying to say that I am not finished with this whole blogging thing yet, I have plenty more to say, so here is to my second year of blogging. Thanks for reading and thanks for commenting. Please come back and visit me soon!

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There is an air of end of term at work at the moment. We have only one month left before things begin to change and the prospect of some of the less inspiring senior managers getting the top jobs is part of the feared reality. This is making life in my part of the NHS a little hysterical, or at least it was today. How I managed to get any work done today (and I did just about) is some kind of miracle!

Two of the most interesting events of the week, in terms of grizzly entertainment value as people dig big holes for themselves and then jump in them cannot be discussed. If I was found out I had written about them, I would be sacked for sure, which is a shame because the two things I have in mind would make your hair curl and have you in fits of laughter at the same time.

The bank holiday weekend is almost upon us, so an extra day off and for me that will mean 3 days to get properly stuck into the essay. I have been reading lots about the development of leaders and about adult learning theory so am just about ready to use my laptop for something more productive than blogging! Remind me to start the next assignment a little earlier than this!!

The photo above is of a castle in France we visited - a long and tricky climb, but worth it for the brilliant views. Something I am not getting from my office window right now!

Unexpectedly I am experiencing the thing that those who are paid monthly and are not rich dread, the 5 week (that is 5 Thursdays) month. This is unexpected, because about a month ago we were all told that because of the installation and testing of a new payroll system, we would all be getting paid a week early. In anticipation of my trip abroad this was music to my ears. Today, I have a quarter of a tank of petrol, £4 in my purse and enough money in the bank for the cheque already written, the bill I need to pay in the next day or two plus a bit of petrol. So I was not best pleased to receive an email telling me it has all been a mistake and payday is in fact on Thursday 31st!!

My current employer ceases to exist on 30th September, and on 1st October I will be part of a whole new world of Primary Care Trusts circa 2006. A world of uncertainty awaits, but mean time we carry on regardless (as Beautiful South once sang). I am planning training, though we still have no budget for it (one day before the end of March someone will tell me how much is available), and we await our fate. This is likely to involve thereorganizationn of departments by new (orreorganizedd) directors and the need to reapply for our own jobs. If I were in charge I would abolish the 5 week month.

For the person who visits via the picture I once posted of a pink ford ka, I saw it again today. It is a lovely car, but it does clash with mine which is orange!

Thirteen Things about going back to work after a holiday! Emails, lots and lots of them. People who can’t wait to help you lose your holiday feeling, well hard luck, I am keeping it this week! I stood in our local M&S looking at the healthy food to buy, but it just wasn’t doing anything for me. I will have to get back to the regime next week I think. People telling you how well you look - is that the sun tan or are you just looking fatter? It is amazing how tiring going back to work is even after just a couple of weeks off. By 4pm yesterday I was feeling quite spaced out. At least it is the school holidays still, and traffic is relatively light. Changes in the NHS - well surprise surprise they still seem to carry on even in my absence. Our new Chief Executive has been appointed and there is the possibility of a move to a new base (that will be 3 this year!) It is difficult to do any meaningful work on day one. Which is why it is lucky really that I had 140 emails and a meeting to go to! Going back on a Thursday was definately a good thing, after all it is now Friday. Trouble is I am confused as to why it isn’t Monday! People have noticed my return. Is this because they have missed me (I work very hard you know) or is it because it has been very quiet (it is that loud voice you know!) Sitting at your desk it is quite easy to imagine yourself back on the beach or strolling along a harbour. Hubby says he does this alot! At least with the hot weather passed they are now switching the lights on in the building now. Before I went away it was like some kind of twighlight zone. The best thing about returning to work is beginning to plan where you might go next. Not sure where it will be yet, but will be thinking along those lines soon! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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Tonight my brother and sister in law have been over to collect my nephew who has been with us for the last 2 weeks and tomorrow it is back to work. Why is it that you spend so much time waiting for that holiday to come and all of a sudden it is gone and over with? Thank goodness then for our ability to remember, to talk about those great things that have happened, to keep memories close to us. Barcelona was all that I could have wanted and more. It was a fantastic city, full of wonderful, if at times bizarre architecture for instance a cathedral still in construction though another steeped in history and an amazing place to walk round and onto the roof of! Yes, I took this photo from the roof of the cathedral!
The open top bus trip around the city allowed us to see so much of the area in one go, and to identify places we would like to return to in the ensuing few days. It also allowed us to visit the home of Catalan football, the Campnou, where Barcelona FC the current European Cup holders (unfortunately) call home. It was the most amazing stadium and we spent a good couple of hours walking around the stadium and museum. Even teen son (an Arsenal fan, the team who are current European cup runners up) was suitably impressed.

Our hotel, the Barcelona Princess, was close to the beach, so on our second full day we took a day off and relaxed on the beach and swam in the Mediterranean, before resuming the sightseeing that night, with a trip by metro into the city centre and dinner and a stroll through the Ramblas. I partook of a particularly potent Cava Sangria which was also extremely pleasant.
Luckily, I had two young men on hand to escort me back to the hotel!

More of this tomorrow!

The worst thing about a holiday is coming home; though generally your own bed is better than any another you might sleep in no matter how big or how good the view from your window is. So while we we were away, some British Muslim people planned to blow up themselves and the planes they were travelling in mid Atlantic on the way to the USA. This has caused the British Government to implement draconian measures in relation to airport security, luckily when you fly into the country you are still allowed hand luggage including mobile phones, ipods and any liquid you choose.

Barcelona was fantastic, France was sublime, the weather was hot though the Mediterranean was colder than in previous years. As far as I know I still have a job and the NHS still exists. More of all of that stuff, with photos tomorrow. Meantime I will be catching up with everyone else’s blog, what’s more, I promise to be a better blogger now I am rested, though I still have 5,000 words to write.