Almost Christmas

Seasons Greetings everyone and I hope you all have a great time.

In 12 days I have been out of work for 18 months. Because of the stroke and other health issues I have had an exemption from applying for jobs and taking part in the “work for dole” scheme from May to 31 December. Even with the exemption I have still tried to find work. In the last six months I have applied for well over 100 jobs and had nearly no feedback. I have received 3 phone calls from agencies, one decided that I had “too much experience” and the other 2 positions required a drivers licence, I am not allowed to drive until 25 January at the earliest and then only with a medical certificate. One question: How can you have TOO much experience? (a euphemism for “too old”) If someone is capable and willing to do the job for the offered remuneration why not hire them ? After all, statistically, older employees take less time off and are more efficient (require less training and supervision) than their younger counterparts, they also tend to stay in the job longer (younger people are continuously improving their career prospects by changing jobs frequently).

Before the stroke the lack of feedback was getting me down and I was quite depressed, not suicidal but very morose. a constant thought going through my head was “No one cares” but my hospital stay changed all that. From the very first second the staff gave me the feeling that I was important and worth something. They were kind and considerate. Almost immediately I felt better, safer, wanted. I had my very first hospital stay in 2006 the stay was for 7 days, I was in my 40’s. 7 days after leaving I was readmitted and was in for about 9 weeks (with another 5 weeks recovery), I ended having nearly 3 months in all away from work. Since 2006 I think I have had at least a week in hospital every year (2014 it was 3 visits for a total of about 4 weeks, 2015 – 3 visits for a total of about 5 weeks – the last being 16 days due to the stroke). Each and every time I left feeling happier than before I was admitted and it is all thanks to the staff, especially the nurses. One thing I noticed was that the nurses seemed to get younger each time. My first visit, most appeared to be in their late 20’s (with a few  in their 40’s or 50’s but I am terrible at guessing peoples ages). My last visit it appeared that all the nursing staff were in their late teens to early twenties, it is most probably that the older I get the younger everyone else looks.

Once again Seasons Greetings and my best wishes for all nurses and doctors through out the world – keep doing a great job and helping old farts like me survive a bit longer.

Change of Job

I no longer work at Diageo.

When I started supporting Diageo in January 2005 I was working for IBM. In July 2012 IBM “outsourced” my job to Bytecraft, I transferred over to Bytecraft and did the same job (but at a lower salary, I was later told that it actually cost IBM more for my services via Bytecraft than what they used to pay me as an employee, so obviously it was not a cost cutting exercise.).

In 2013 IBM lost the contract with Diageo with my job being taken over by the new service provider in 2014 and me not having my contract renewed by Bytecraft in June 2014, so as of 01 July 2014 I am looking for employment.

Living In Sydney

I have lived in Sydney since March 1995, so almost 20 years now.

This must be one of the most exciting and beutifull places in the world. That is not to say there are not any better places out there, it is just based on what I have experienced for myself. I have lived in 3 place for extended periods, London (England, where is was born), Wellington (New Zealand) and here. I have also visted at least 10 other countries but only for a few days each.

Currently I live in a southern suburb of Sydney, about 20 minutes drive from the CBD (if your lucky and do not get caught in the traffic, at times it can take over an hour). Most of the houses around here were built from about 1930 to about 1960 but there are more and more new places popping up every week, it’s a shame really because I think the older places have character and the newer ones just look like boxes. My place is one of the earlier ones and is a bit rundown but it is comfy, quiet and has exactly what I need for now.

I am approaching retirement age (mid-50’s) and looking to settle into a nice quiet life, work part-time and enjoy myself. To do this I will need to move out of Sydney.  As much as I love this city it is just too exspensive, so I am looking at moving north to somewhere like the Hunter Region – rural, small towns, etc. but best of all Wine Region. The Hunter is only 2 hours drive from Sydney, so I can always come and visit whenever I like. Another plus is that most of my friends already live up that way, a big minus is that all my remaining family in Australia  live south of Sydney (the rest live in the UK).

Where I am now

I currently work at a company called Diageo doing Computer Support (to learn more about them go to WWW.DIAGEO.COM), basically preparing and supporting PC’s/laptops for Diageo employees.

It is a great place to work, the people are friendly and great at what they do.

IBM actually have the contract with Diageo. Supplying all sorts of computer services and equipment and they have outsourced the PC Support to the company I work for which is Bytecraft Systems. I have been with Bytecraft for about 2 ½ years now, before that I was with IBM for 13 years. In all I have been at Diageo for a little over 9 years.