Switzerland was pretty much a disaster, although it taught me one important lesson: Go with your own gut instincts and research and don't let agencies and those with vested interests fool you into thinking that you are being 'too negative' unless they're the ones taking on board all the risk!
Suffice to say a cost of living about two to three times that of the UK (£1500/month for a YMCA-like room where hot water wasn't available most of the time - how stupid does one have to be?!) was a shock. The Swiss devaluation of their currency, on top of a pretty miserable work experience and complete lack of any sort of life outside work were the last straw.
I've been back in the UK a couple of weeks now, and already feel rejuvenated and back to 'my old self'.
Last Saturday I got to go to the launch of The Persuaders Blu-ray set, and got to hear an excellent Q&A by Sir Roger Moore, conducted by Barry Norman and got to shake hands and get an autograph from the former Saint/James Bond/Brett Sinclair himself.
Last night I went to see indie-pop rockers Hard-Fi at the Forum in Kentish Town and it was an awesome gig. Anthemic tunes of the sort Oasis were once famous for.
Aside from that I've been ridiculously busy starting up my new company, catching up on all the huge announcements Microsoft made the week before last, and doing daily updates (no, honestly!) to the new fast and fluid Windows 8 -themed blog. If you're a developer in the Microsoft workspace I definitely recommend you check the blog out - I'm very proud of it and have had great feedback on it from the few who've discovered it!
I have an interview for an interesting new contract next Tuesday. So, fingers crossed, things are on the look up for Silverlight developers (the lack of demand for which was the only reason I ever considered Switzerland in the first place - ironic that Credit-Suisse moved contractors off the Silverlight projects when it was clear they had to let people go).
Hopefully, I'll get time to update this personal blog more regularly, now I'm back home.
Stay tuned!
7 comments:
Even though I'm not British, welcome back! Fast and fluid is an awesome blog. I can see you put a lot of work in it, not just rehashing other people's stuff, but analyzing and sharing your own thoughts on the madness that's been going on.
@Tommy Thanks for your support. Yes, it's a lot of work but it's all good. With the benefit of hindsight it would be doing a LOT better if the tweets being made from the FastAndFollow account were going to the "Following" list of the original "irascian" account. Still, I prefer quality over quantity any day ;-) and I think the base for Fast and Fluid will grow over time if I can keep up with the manic workload.
So good to see you back here! Glad you're feeling better after s couple of weeks back home. How did the interview go yesterday? Have everything crossed that you get a new, well-paying, idiot-workmate-free contract soon!
Thanks Jen. It didn't go well. Impressive web site, but mickey-mouse operation and career-wise it would have been a step backwards (old version of Silverlight not inthe public domain because it's for 'secret' XBox work). Shame they don't reveal this stuff in the phone interview. Waste of time.
Welcome back to the UK, and very best wishes for future jobs and projects.
A warm welcome back to the UK, and very best wishes for all future projects and work in general.
Thanks Steve. Been back four weeks now and not looking great on the job front, but tomorrow is another day. Fingers crossed.
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