As I walked up to the wagon this morning Andy said it was our last day, as we’d kinda guessed having not had a call on Thursday as usual, but that boss-woman Pam had said there’d probably be a job for us in a fortnight, but that he couldn’t tell me about it with the others around cos it was a bit hush hush. So I took him round the side of the truck to explain in his mumbly Castle Brom voice over the rattling sound of the engine. An 18 month contract clearing Aston along the same lines as what we’re doing now only working directly for the council rather than through the agency. Starts in a fortnight.
Hmm. Not sure. While the work and hours are good (I’m really liking getting home by 4.00pm every day) it would mean no weeks off other than statuatory holidays and I’m really not sure about 18 months. Then there’s this whole aversion to having a full time job that I’ve got going on. I put it to the back of my mind during the day assuming that I’d turn it down.
End of the day comes and we go and get our time sheets sorted. I ask Pam about this job and it starts to sound more interesting. Firstly there’s the pay factor. At a minimum I can expect to clear £240 a week after tax which is £100 more than I’m clearing at the moment. Depending on the job it could be more. If I keep the my current spending, which shouldn’t be a problem, there’s a real chance of saving some real money for some project or other next year (Travel? Long term farm? Full time comics thing?). Work wise there’s a possibility of working on the barrow (as shown on Dave’s poster) which quite appeals as it would mean really getting to know the area with all the writing / photography potential that entails. And if I’m not on my own I’ll probably be working with Andy, which is cool.
They’re going to call me in the next couple of weeks to confirm. The funding has been approved (project: Aston Pride) and management have agreed with Pam that Andy and I are suitable for the job so we’re just waiting for the logistics to settle into place.
Of course, I can quit at any time though I’d probably give it a good 6 months through the summer. Do I go for it?
Yes – go for it. What’s to lose?
I concur with Demian – If you enjoy the work, or the company you work with, and you’re getting paid a salary you’re happy with, why not?
As you say, you could always quit further down the line if you found it wasn’t really for you.
I appreciate the quandary you are in – I’ve managed to secure a full-time position (finally), and start on Monday. However, as part of my joining pack I have a health questionnaire to fill out, which is causing me quite a bit of worry (currently taking Effexor, and have been for almost 2 years, etc.).
To be honest, when I typed “Do I go for it?” it did seem very rhetorical. It’s just that I hadn’t planned for this to happen. Then again I didn’t plan for most of the last 12 months to happen either so it’s not really that much of a surprise.
What else do you have lined up?
As long as you’re not seduced into the world of buying things you don’t need with money you don’t have, then why not?
A thousand quid a month net isn’t bad if you’re a single bloke with low costs.
It took me a long time to suss out this work/lifestyle/permanence business, so if it’s any help, here’s what I do. I work 4 months a year in England earning 450 quid a week driving trucks. When I’ve reached my tax limit, about 5000 quid, I resign on good terms, so I can come back next year, and fly to Brasil and spend 8 months in the sun doing what I want. I get all my tax back. Lots of people I know do this sort of thing. I know a German chap lives in Rio, he’s a waiter in Switzerland in the summer. Another trucker I know, a Dutch guy, lives in Phuket in Thailand.
You could sort of do that. Ever been to Fes, in Morocco? You can live there on peanuts, and it’s a wonderful place, truly amazing.
Enjoy the work – tick
Hours are good – tick
Chance to earn more that you are at the moment – tick
18 month contract – tick
TAKE THE JOB! Now all you need to do is work out the figures and set yourself a goal as to what you are going to spend the money on. Travel is always good, broadens the mind and all that :) I’m kind of in the same situation as I can’t really plan any travel until I finish my college course in 18 months. By then I should have my HNC and i’m going to have a decent holiday to celebrate.
I do wonder why you are going in to this with the negative attitude though pete. If you take this job it should be in your mind that you WILL do the whole 18 months. I think that the problem with our generation, and why we are adrift in life with no direction, is that it is too easy to quit and move on.
Dave, yeah, it’s a funny one. I think it’s just me, though. I had a bit of a revelation when I quit the bookshop last year (and it was nearly a year ago now) that I never wanted a full time job ever again. And then when I found myself in a full time job at the airport last November it drove me somewhat insane.
I think I like being “adrift in life with no direction” as it keeps bringing interesting things to me that I might not have experienced otherwise, and I think I’ve only just scratched the surface. This job, for example, could well be one of those things and I’m 99% sure I’ll take it, but the prospect of a long term stint of employment for the same company still sets off alarm bells.
Peter, nothig else lined up at the moment other than the chance of doing more weird temping jobs which could be good, could be shite.
I love your description of your working life – something to aim for methinks! ;)
Our generation seems to be adrift. I agree that it does bring you in to contact with interesting stuff. I just think it might actually be good for you to stick at something for 18 months, if nothing else then just to prove to yourself that you can.
I’m floating that way, hence the 6 month minimum. I was wondering about what I might do this summer and this could be it.
Posted my last email before I read this entry. It’s an opportunity. You can take it. Have no expectations, either positive or negative, and see where it leads!
Okay! I’m going to accept the job! (If it actually happens, of course – nothing more than an informal chat so far)
Good decision! Now, when you’re working the streets of Aston would you look out for 227 Farm Street. Your grandmother Edna May lived there before she married your grandfather Ashton in 1934. I can’t find it on maps but this is Aston and the street may have disappeared. Perhaps one of those old cast iron street signs may be lying around?
Incidentally from now on no-one will spell your name correctly.
And the Blues are fifth in the premier division (have to crow about that one to all the Villa supporters who read this!)
“Incidentally from now on no-one will spell your name correctly.”
I don’t tend to have that problem in Birmingham – I think it’s a local name. When I was last working for the council a few years back on the gardens there were another 5 Ashton’s on the signing-in sheet. Outside of the Midlands everyone assumes it’s either Aston or Ashdon, the latter probably being my fault for not enunciating.
Pride of Ashton – Philosopher Binman
It must be fate. I’m not convinced that our generation is any more adrift than any other, although perhaps more aware of it … it’s not negativity, nor even exactly passivity. The zen of working life. Seeing a need and acting to meet it. Operating, not aiming.
Or are you making the choice because you’ve already been labelled as this by The Guardian, and they know about Important Things?
Before the Guardian thing, and especially after writing the rant that prompted it, I was starting to get suspicions that I was becoming a pretentious wanker about all this, justifying my low-paid shit-job existence as some kind of “lifestyle choice”, part of a desire to “see the real world” to be documented in a psuedo-journalistic, socially aware but ever so slightly superior manner on my cutting edge weblog.
But then I’ve been writing about my life for the years now and why the fuck shouldn’t I continue, is the re-joiner I tell myself. Whatever, I feel like I’m on a something of a roll at the moment so I might as well make the most of it.