So what’s been happening for these last few weeks?

First off, I found a contract job in Nottingham working for a utility company, this is 2 hours from where I live. So I’m back on the road, staying in hotels and not getting enough exercise.

It’s quite odd; I went for a walk today and it all looked very unreal. I’m staying on the edge of town in the Travelodge and there’re all of these buildings lit up from below; proxy country houses built in 1997. It’s like a movie set, underneath, behind it there’s nothing substantial. I wonder if my studying and meditiation practice are having an effect, allowing me to see that there’s nothing there really. It’s not a bad feeling at all, I’m almost getting a sense of completion.

Nottingham has the national white water centre, they’re open until 9 during the week so I’m thinking that I will probably spend a lot of time there.

I went to buy a laptop from my friends at savastore using Rosie’s credit card (it’s new and got a long interest free period). Cocked up the delivery address and couldn’t change it on the web so cancelled. It took 24 hrs to cancel and the card has almost run out of cash so I can’t order again until tomorrow when the credit goes back onto the card.

Unlike the days when I was contracting before there are now umbrella companies that allow you to reclaim your expenses and mitigate (but not avoid) some of the effects of the nasty IR35. I am using a company called prosperity4. The only downside is that I won’t get paid until November and my expenses are pretty extreme, like about £400 a week. Think I’ll have to have a word with my bank manager.

The work at here is very interestng but obviously for reasons of confidentiality I can’t discuss it here. Aggressive deadlines and a large IT infrastructure, oh, how I have missed them in the backwater I was travelling in. My one worry is that I sometimes go a bit passive under pressure and just do what’s fun, so I’m going to have to watch myself.

I met one of my old Oracle colleagues here, Michel, whom I knew from the Halifax project.

I’m having fun and will be able to pay my bills so fuck it, just have to get on with life and make sure it’s worth living. I just wish I could get home at night but that will have to wait until the market picks up.