Coming from a provincial office, and flung into the heart of Government, to say I am overwhelmed would be a bit of an understatement.
There are security guards everywhere; a special lift for the Secretary of State and Ministers; a subsidised canteen that sells fair trade food and serves healthy meals; a state of the art sports centre with well equipped gym, games hall, scheduled classes e.g. aerobics, kick boxing, tai chi, jazz dancing.
Some things are still the same as in my old job - flexible working patterns which centre around core hours 10 - 12am and 2 - 4pm. Meaning I can get into work anytime before 10.00am.
Everyone is SMART!
In my old job, the dress code was casual smart, and I only had 2 formal tops for the odd meeting with clients. This week I've been wearing the same pair of trousers - hoping no one has noticed... Yesterday I wore a T-shirty type top, but tried to smarten it up with a tailored waist coat. On my way home, I met a friend who on seeing me remarked "Oh so it's casual smart in your new job too" ??? Clearly it didn't work!!! My wardrobe is in need of a major overhaul.Tomorrow, I am wearing 'Monday's' top - now how to make it to look different...
The commute is what's killing me at the moment. TWO hours plus - EACH WAY!!
At the moment I can only afford £13.80 for a weekly bus pass. A travel card which would have let me use the train costs £44. Until I get paid at the end of February, things are looking decidedly grim. Saying that, the journey on the first day was quite pleasant. I left home arrived early, so popped into St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square for a quick prayer, and then took a leisurely stroll to the office via the Horse Guards Parade where there was a Guards brass band playing music - all in their furry hats. It was too early for the 'Changing of the Guard' which takes place daily at 11.00am, and nothing on the Internet seems to shed any light on it, so I will assume it was in my honour! tee hee
The next day was a reverse. I left home at about the same time as the day before. About a fifth way into the journey, the bus slowed to a crawl. There was a massive traffic jam in front of us. The bus driver announced that the jam was not going to ease up and advised us to find an alternative route - i.e. use the train! Unplanned spending! £3.70! Got to the train, and the words, 'packed in like sardines', 'pack animals' will give you a mental image of what it was like! It was awful! I got into work after 9.30, completely flustered! Had to keep chanting to myself "Today is going to be a GOOD day!"
So I need to leave home a bit earlier - probably around 6.30am. I've been waking up at 6.00am, but it takes me an hour to get ready. So will have to change that to 5.30am if I stand a chance of getting into work by 9.00am!
The good thing about the commute though is that I have enough time to read! So will enrich my mind in the process!
