How I operate

So it has been two weeks since my last post. Nothing much has changed since then, I've actually been pretty busy without having too much interesting to add... a few highlights though...

Saw DJ Krush a week and a half back, at the Prince of Wales. He's a Japanese "instrumental hip hop" DJ/producer, playing a lot of laidback, chilled beats, good for both late night kicking back or casual background tunes. Great gig, I've missed him several times over the past few years so I was glad to finally catch him live; unlike many DJs, he was actually busy behind the decks, scratching, mixing and messing with the tempo. His gig even branched into some hectic drum'n'bass.

Spent a day or so up in, of all places, Wollongong, for work. It was only for one night and one day, but it was a fun excursion... nice to be out of the office, see some different scenery. The trip reminded me of how I dislike Sydney though; I'm not sure why, but I always feel very claustrophobic and stressed when I am in Sydney, even if it is just while I'm in a car traveling somewhere else. I had a good meal overlooking the beach the night I was up in Wollongong, and then headed back to my "work-approved" accommodation, which typically, included a double bed that was too short for me, a TV with bad reception and bad technicolour manchester. I forced myself to get up early (these days, early is before 7am), and I went and had pancakes for breakfast down at a cafe on the beach foreshore. More than anything else on my trip away (more than the flights and packing a bag), this meal made me feel like I was on holiday...a lovely summer morning, waves gently crashing on the sand. Mae the rest of my day pretty easy, which is good, because most of it was spent traveling around steel mills and related heavy industry.

The reason I was up in Wollongong was that I'm currently engaged in a small "IT consulting" style project (yep, back to consulting, I'm one of those twits), for an actual customer, not just my regular employer. This is quite unique for me since, for the last few years, the vast majority of my work has been for internal business units of the company that I work for, rather than external clients. So it is nice to face a new (small) challenge. But it has made me realise that, despite all my best efforts to slack off and take it easy while at work, I'm actually quite good at my job (otherwise I wouldn't have been the one going to Wollongong), and I think our customer sees that too. What all that means is that perhaps the new year will be the right time for me to stretch my legs a little and test the waters beyond my current employment.. stagnation does no one any favours, and I can't really see my current level in the organisation, nor my salary, changing very much unless I do something about it. The good aspect about this is that I don't particularly feel that I HAVE to move jobs (in amongst the somewhat repetitious workload, I do get to interact with a number of outstandingly good-value people who have become close friends), which I think is in fact the best time to move jobs since there is no pressure on you; you can take time to write the CV, source some opportunities and take any interviews in a more relaxed manner, which I find ends up more successful any way.
So bring on the new year, and we'll see what new opportunities arise (perhaps I should check my long term horoscope in the newspaper ;-) )...