New perspectives on the Drake Equation
Under the Umbrella
Sunday morning comes around again and here I sit listening to Frank Zappa’s Trance-Fusion which I hadn’t heard previously and which I’m enjoying a lot.
I’m also waiting for a roofer to come out and give us an estimate for some repair work – we had rain and high winds earlier in the week and water was coming in under the windowsill of the spare bedroom at the front. My suspicion is that there was some ice damage a few weeks ago which lay dormant until the high winds but the end result is water in and damaged wall paper.
Meanwhile I am trying hard not to get too de-mob happy at work. Ironically enough I am busier now than I have been for a while as I try to clear the decks of outstanding work to give me enough time to sort out some of the stuff I have collected over the years. I have already disposed of a lot but there is more to clear, mostly to the bin I think. I will be keeping some stuff as I have some photos there and also some of my notes and books from my law degree but I am forcing myself to be unsentimental and to curb my hoarding tendencies.
all on its lonesome
I am going for drinkies on 4 March to mark my departure and readers are welcome to pop by if you are in the neighbourhood – leave a comment if you want me to contact you about it. As best as I can tell the pubs of Edinburgh will be doing a roaring trade on successive Fridays in March with the number of people leaving. You can join some of the dots for yourself about why so many people are keen to go.
One of the things which has happened to my blogging over the years is that I have passed less comment on social matters with an obvious political slant. In large part this has been because, as a semi-senior public servant, I haven’t thought it appropriate to touch on areas which might suggest to the suggestible that the accepted boundaries of professional neutrality have been transgressed.
Although I will no doubt still be circumspect for reasons to do with my new job, I am looking forward to casting off the current set of self-imposed shackles. In recent times I have become increasingly discontent working for the government (any government). This is partly because aspects of working in the public sector have ground me down but is also because there has been for some time now a distinct sense of being unhappy working for The Man (Man!). I am quite keen on keeping my working and personal lives in some sort of ethical balance in the sense that what I do to earn my meagre crust is congruent with my ethical sense of self.
I came to the conclusion several years ago that there was a growing divergence between my working life (in the abstract sense of being a government employee) and my personal attitudes and I determined in 2007 or so that the time was right to go if I could. The circumstances which made that possible came together late last year and hence my seizing of the opportunity.
More on this next month (probably 🙂 ).
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