Heading back to Scotland

By the time my time in Villefranche came to an end, I was feeling pretty weary with having to live in a foreign language, where achieving even the simplest task was a major effort and I was getting pretty sick of my own company. So I decided to head back to the UK for a few weeks R & R before heading back to tackle it again. I headed up to Calais and found that I had left the good weather behind - in fact it was miserable. I tried to get onto the net to book a ferry to Dover but it seems that Calais had no internet that evening so I headed down to the port and booked in person. My ferry left at 9.00pm and we arrived in Dover 75 minutes later at 9.15. Since I had not booked a hotel on this side of the channel, I decided to make a start heading north in the hope that I would find a motel/hotel in one of the rest areas along the motorway. I thought it would be far too late to barge in unannounced on any of my brothers or sisters in London, even assuming they were home on a Friday night. I did find a hotel and got a great night's sleep before heading up the M1, which is as diabolical as everyone says it is. I spent nearly an hour going no further than about 5 miles. Fortunately, when I hit the M6 things started to move a bit more quickly. I arrived in Edinburgh about 6.30pm and went round to see Christopher and Joe at a friend's house where they had been barbecuing and partying. After a couple of restorative G & Ts (which actually had more of an effect than usual), I had to leave the car at Leonie's and take a taxi back to Lyss' flat where I was to stay the night.
Leigh had arranged for me to visit a recruitment agency on the Monday. She was very keen for me to come and do some work with her at Mellon and it seemed that the interview was just a formality. However, I did have to account for myself for a period of 5 years, even covering periods of more than 4 weeks where I didn't work - what a palaver. Getting a reference from the Bank was actually very easy (thank you Vanessa) but I had been on holiday for more than 4 weeks by then so I needed a personal reference for that (thanks Mandy) and even that didn't cover the full 5 years. They wanted one for the 6 months pre Bank and we all know how difficult that can be with a government agency. We got there in the end though and I started work at Mellon a week ago. It has been really good having the social interaction that a job provides again and even better, it is a call centre so I am getting a reminder of what it is like to be on an inbound queue. It's all good at the moment, I guess because it is new and different and because it is only a temporary role. Some of you will remember Suzi Straayer who left the Bank on a year's leave in August last year to come to this side of the world - well, guess what: I found her at Mellon at the beginning of the week. She has been working there for some time but she was saying that she was finding it difficult 'living' in Edinburgh and travelling. I think she has found Edinburgh a reasonably expensive place to live. It is obviously a smaller world than we think. I feel slightly tied down now that I am working and have had to pass up several opportunities to go and do things but it is only for a short time so I will still have other opportunities - Italy in June springs to mind. In some ways this is a good time to be working rather than holidaying, as the weather in some parts of Europe has been pretty dire - and it hasn't been a lot warmer here either. The best bonus of all of course, is that I am adding funds to my coffers for my next assault on Europe which can only be good. The children and I head off to Milan next week to which I am really looking forward to.
It was Leigh's birthday last week so on Saturday night we went out for drinks and dinner at a Brazilian restaurant - something quite different and a very pleasant evening, although by the time I got home, it was a good deal later than evening. Just as well I didn't take the car or I would have been collecting it on Sunday again. This trip has involved far more alcohol than my system is used to.
Those of you who know me well, will be surprised to learn that I have joined Lyss' gym and been going regularly (although I know me even better and that may change over time). They have a lovely pool area with a spa, sauna and steam room which I have made heavy use of, in preference to the actual gym equipment, although I have done some workouts. I have been a little disappointed with the results so far I have to say, but to be fair, it has only been a week (I always was impatient).

So I think this has caught everyone up on where I am and what I am doing so I'll be in touch again after Milan.