Tag Archives: Work

Quality Time

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Life was bliss for three weeks. No rushing, no nagging, no disturbance, just peace and quiet and dealing with an extremely hot summer. It was the best three weeks off I’ve had in a while because I didn’t have to share my time with anyone else. It was just me and it felt awesome. I took the goldsmith course which was an amazing experience as well. Especially when the person teaching -a professional goldsmith- tells you that you have the skill set, patience, creativity and the exceptional natural ability to do this kind of work. I was flattered because she was not the kind of person to give compliments. I’m sure she must have noticed my passion for designing and making jewellery.

The friend who passed away about a month ago, used to be a goldsmith as well. Her ex-partner gave all her tools to me when he heard I was going to take this course. I didn’t use them yet as they were in a small flight case and I had to go through all her stuff first and clean it. It took me three days to sort it, clean it and give it some extra TLC. I had to sand down the inside of the flight case as there was glue stuck allover. After sanding it down I painted it white and cleaned all the aluminium edging and corners on the outside. It looks so much better now, it’s ready to be used. All I need to add over time, is a proper desk, gas torch and tank, hoses, saw, hammer and ring mandrel.

I’ve bought a Garmin vivosport activity tracking device a while ago and have been keeping an eye on stress levels since. They were extremely high, especially in May and June this year and although I didn’t feel stressed most of the time, it was telling me that I really had to slow down and try to reduce this. These past three weeks levels had dropped significantly which was a real eye-opener. I’ve started working again so I’m curious to see what will happen this month. The fact that temperatures were extremely high and I was forced to take things slow must have contributed to lower stress levels as well. I’ve been craving for some serious long spells of rain and thunderstorms for weeks now!

I’ve met up with friends for dinner and really enjoyed their company as I hadn’t been able to see most of them for at least six months, some for over a year. We had lots of stories to share! I’ve updated my jewellery business website and added more pictures in the portfolio section. And I’ve been playing with electroforming but that didn’t go well, I was expecting better results. I’ll have to look into things and see what is causing issues. I think I might have contaminated the bath as I was experimenting with fabric on gemstones. Because of the heat my conductive paint dried waaaaay too fast and I’m guessing it didn’t seal parts completely, also the liquid rubber I’ve used was a new technique.

I’ll try to fix it this weekend. Going back to work was kind of hard because it was 32C at the start of this week and 29C in my office space, too hot to focus on things that need to be done. Today I’m working from home and have some extra time to get chores done and write a blog in between. Still there’s too much on my plate, I can’t seem to focus because of the weather and not sleeping very well. Summer is great but these temperatures are driving me nuts. Last week the government announced an official drought and shortage of water, because of this trees and plants are dying, use of tap water is still fine and not restricted (yet). Thunderstorms and rain is expected tomorrow, we’ll see…

First things first, let’s get some work done ;)

Slacker…

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I’ve been away for a while, I guess life caugth up with me over the past eight months. Things have been utterly hectic and weird lately in all aspects. My assignment finished in January this year, I was told the second week of December last year just when I was about to take my well-earned two weeks off. Because the board member -responsible for the web team and redesign of the government website- stepped down and removed herself from this project it was cast adrift all of a sudden. Never in my entire career have I faced a situation like this. I was stunned by the unprofessional ways this organisation was dealing with their employees, the repetitive mistakes and the arrogant attitude that came with it. It was like walking through a maze, not sure what to expect around each corner.

And so my assignment ended the day before my birthday, what a coincedence… In the meantime I’d already had two intakes at two different clients. The latter wanted another interview planned as soon as my assignment had ended. Then after I also had to give a presentation including answering questions, and once that was done they would decide if they wanted to take me on for this project. Five minutes after I had held my presentation, -I was on my way back to Amsterdam and just gotten on the train when I received a call- I was told that I was hired for the project. I was surprised because I didn’t know what to expect after giving this presentation to about fifteen people. I guess I must have left a good impression with at least half of the group or else they wouldn’t have hired me ;)

Things went all way too fast as I didn’t have a moment to relax and adjust to the new situation. Last time I was in between projects I had a few months where I could relax a bit, finish work-related administration, backup files and documents, and get my Mac ready for the next assignment. This time, I only had five days of which three were over the weekend. So yes things have been pretty hectic since and I’ve been juggling work, ‘me-time’ and the demands of daily life in general. It’s one of the largest projects I’ve worked on so far as it involves three levels of government, municipal, provincial and the water boards (the oldest government authorities in the Netherlands). This makes it all very complex, but at the same time it’s a really cool experience and a great opportunity to gain knowledge!

Then at the beginning of this month our department moved further south, so my already long distance commute doubled in km and time. It’s ok for now, the project is worth the trip but I’m not sure if I can keep up with this for a couple of years. I’m already told that if they’re happy with my skills and input, I could easily have this assignment extended to up to three to five years at least (…). I’m trying to get approval to work from home one day per week which will give me an extra two hours in the morning to catch up on sleep and I could do some chores during the day. Yup, I have been a total blog slacker but it has been out of my control all these months. Whenever I started to write I couldn’t finish due to a serious lack of time. I will try and write at least once a month and I’ll catch up when I can ;)