Time For A Change

[Squirrel]

Thank you.

You're not Gollum! Sometimes the only way I find out what I want is asking for advice and then rejecting it. ;)

:)) I keep thinking BUT WHYYYYY won’t I just jack the bloody thing in? And I keep coming back to the lovely, lovely money :lol:. So greed is my motivation basically. We’ve got “enough” but I still want more MORE MORE.

[bramblerose]

Can you not do the work from your home? Do you need to be in their office? If there is only 2-3 hours work a day, then you could do that in hour blocks throughout the day?

[Squirrel]

It’s usually 3-5 hours a day. No, I have to be on site as it involves physical paperwork and I’m also the only person that can operate the various printers etc :)) :proud:.

[sally maclennane]

I was thinking what PG said, it sounds like an ideal summer job for a student.

Definitely ask though, I bet they wont want to lose you!

[smalex]

I've got a slightly different opinion to the general consensus in that I think it sounds so ideal (in term time at least) and think you'd probably be hard pushed to find something with similarly convenient timings etc, so it sounds like it would be a shame to give it up. OTOH I totally know how you feel, I often have a debate with myself about booking in less work (more time off/less pressure) during summer holidays/run up to Christmas but that then equalling less £££. I am also of the opinion that it seems pretty likely they'd make some other arrangement if they had to rather than lose you altogether, specially if you could offer the odd day or something.

[Montana]

In my experience that kind of business puts real value on having someone they know and trust in place and are likely to jump through a few temporary hoops to avoid having to make a permanent change. So I'd definitely say it's worth asking if they can accommodate your need to be at home more over the summer.

[Heebie Jeebie]

Recruiting someone is a pain in the arse at best, and risky. Can you plan how to sell the idea of a break to them - what's in it for them to do it this way and is there anything you could do to make it easier? The idea about their son learning rhe business might be a good one.

[Skips]

I've been invited to an interview tomorrow morning. It's a complete step away from what I've been doing and would involve a small pay cut, but it looks an ace place to work (it's an award winning, farm based service station). I'd also have to give up volunteering for Guides as it has a shift pattern which wouldn't work with anything regular, I'm not sure how I feel about that as I know the unit is struggling to get leaders and if I left it would have to shut down. That said, my mental well being and happiness has to come first and I've been unhappy for a while so maybe I need a complete change rather than going to another unsatisfactory office job. I think the company ethos may be swaying me more than the actual role, and I've have to think hard about whether this is the right choice for me. I'd talk it through with my mum (as someone else to run it by, I've already been messaging J :)) ), but she's keen for me not to leave guiding and I think would try to persuade me to stay doing what I'm doing (ETA - When I mentioned the interview I went for in Bristol she said that perhaps they would let me leave early once a week to attend Guides as she knew I wouldn't make it in time otherwise).

TLDR: waffling.

[Hamm]

Good luck!

Well, as with any voluntary with kids. It’ll only close down if the parents let it. Was your parent a leader, by any chance? With Scouts there are some leaders who don’t do regular but do when they can fit it in/odd camps etc. Usually the parents of kids who have moved on.

What’s a farm service station? I must admit, my first thought was the serve yourself dairy we have. Like petrol, but milk.

[Skips]

It's a family owned (rather than franchise) service station which has butchers/bakers and nice restaurant rather than your usual burger king and WHS.

My mum became a leader with my sister and has kept going from there. I mentioned getting more leaders to my mum recently and she said she's always struggled, yada yada yada. It's probably a guilt trip.

[Hamm]

That sounds like a nice place to spend days.

Sadly, guilt and pressure from people who are scared of the extra work or it stopping are what keeps most people in stuff that no longer fits or sparks joy :oldtshirtkondo: and it's not fair. You have to make your own choices based on your life now.

[nineseven]

My parents have a fancy farm-based service station near them and they sometimes go there for dinner :lol: I wonder if it's the same one?

[Kenickie]

Tebay is lovely so I imagine it's something like that?

I think it's worth a go - there's nothing to stop you going back to office work after a few months if you decide that it's not the right move for you.

[H1ppychick]

Without wanting to out Skips’s potential future employer, it sounds like it’s Gloucester Services which I think is owned by the same outfit as Tebay.

[Skips]

It's as Hippy says. And yes, the same people own Tebay (and more than likely the one Nine's parents go to). I shan't share which direction I would be working (assuming I got and went for it). :))

[nineseven]

If you get the job, maybe they can whisper the password "Turtle" to you to get superior service

[H1ppychick]

I was in the southbound one the weekend before last on my way back from a wedding in Telford, basically just so I could show it off to my mum who was with me. I managed to restrict myself to buying a bar of nice chocolate - I could have spent an absolute fortune.

I think I prefer the northbound one though, as the petrol station feels a bit less intrusive.

[Skips]

This could become a thing if turtles are passing.

[Squirrel]

Good luck skips, it sounds like a complete change would be a good start.

I think it's worth a go - there's nothing to stop you going back to office work after a few months if you decide that it's not the right move for you.

I agree with this ^.

In my experience that kind of business puts real value on having someone they know and trust in place and are likely to jump through a few temporary hoops to avoid having to make a permanent change. So I'd definitely say it's worth asking if they can accommodate your need to be at home more over the summer.

Thank you for this. My friend said the same thing today. I am super reliable and although the job itself is something pretty much anyone could pick up, I think I’m a safe pair of hands. I was thinking about it and I’ve had one day off sick ever, and two or three days when I didn’t go in due to snow/driving conditions/school closed. That’s not much really. So maybe there’s a value in that for them.

I wish I felt a bit more comfortable being assertive! Some RL friends have also said they think I should quit and I’m still flip-flopping over that too, as it would undoubtedly be more straightforward in the short term.

Mr S has been abroad but he’s back this evening so when he’s over jet lag we can have a proper talk about it. He normally doesn’t have an opinion on this stuff but when he does, I usually find myself agreeing with him. So I’m half hoping he’ll say “I think you should do X” which would sway me one way or the other.

Another thing is that I need to think about exactly how to phrase what I’m going to say. I know I’m a zillion % more likely to have the conversation in the first place, if I’ve got over the psychological barrier of feeling like I’m not really sure how to approach it. So any tips or thoughts on that would be very welcome.

Anyway sorry I keep banging on :ella:. I know this is such a minor thing and it’s hopefully going to be easily resolved one way or another, but mentally I feel like it’s looming over me.

[smalex]

I want to stop at Gloucester services but it's a little too close to home to seem justifiable and yet also a bit too far to go for tea.