My Breaking Dawn Part 2

....I decided to say no to Aurora or rather remove myself from their options. I had worked a trial session with the chef there and he was nice enough, but I had an underlying discomfort with the place. I’m sure they’ll do well. Maybe it was more due to how I was feeling and what I actually wanted.
What did I want? I wanted to cook the food that I wanted. I wanted to return to being “Head Chef” somewhere. That is what i’m good at. To be honest the offers started coming in. It was nice to feel wanted and respected again. The pressure had been taken off me due to my redundancy package. I knew that so long as I found work by the new year I would be fine financially. My wife had been
awesome throughout and at no point did she panic. I guess this was one of those “Trust” moments you have in marriages. She trusted and believed in me. I had quite a few options. I was being offered business partnerships, shareholder options, head and sous chef positions.

So what have I decided to do?

The Greyhound Pub. This is owned by one of my best friends from my training days as a student at Suffolk College. He had heard about my situation. He needed a chef. Straight away I was excited about this. I would be in a kitchen, cooking the food I wanted (within reason :-) and more importantly having some fun with it. I know there are always issues with working with friends. I may look back on this blog in years to come with a frown, but I very much doubt it. Just down to the nature of our personalities our friendship has survived living together and drinking together. 

The pub itself has won Adnams pub of the year Award as well as other awards for food. Dan himself has won awards for his wheatsheaf* work :oD (He’s a bit shy about that fact) 

Dan and Me 1994? LOL

So from January 2012 I will be found there. Follow on twitter https://twitter.com/TheGreyhoundIps or follow me https://twitter.com/brix2tri. Let’s see where this journey takes me. If you are in Ipswich pop in and say hi.... also eat something.

My Breaking Dawn part 1

Did you hear the one about the chef who left the security of a good, steady job and took a gamble on a new career as a teacher? He got the job and really applied himself and was really happy with finally realising his academic potential. Becoming a qualified assessor, a respected and competent teacher and turning himself from a chef who could teach to a teacher who could cook....
.... He got shat on!

The long and short of it is. Back in July/August the alarm bells were starting to sound. The College where I was employed started to get a bit twitchy, as the numbers for the new term (September2012) enrolment were a lot lower than anticipated. This led to weeks of speculation as to what was going to happen. Rumours about mass sacking/redundancies etc. As the days, whittled away, we were put under pressure to quite literally go and find some students. To the extent of "cold calling" some students who may have enquired at some point.
September came, numbers were down. But we were told we were OK. A little tweak of the timetables had secured our futures.... so we thought.
November.... An Email came asking the three Instructors, which included me, to attend a meeting. In this meeting we were told our futures... Reapply for our jobs, an interview and so on. In my mind I felt I was always the least favourite to be successful, due to me being the "Newest" employee. With less than a year under my belt. I knew I was the easiest option for the College. The whole process took just under three weeks. Just days before my birthday I found out my fate.

The next stage was the college offering me "Re-deployment" within the college. My pay was to be protected for the next 12 months, but the Job they were offering me was in a LSA- Learning Support Assistant. With all respect to the role, I did not go to the college to be an assistant teacher. The reality of the situation is that the job would not have even been in the Catering department. So I could have been an assistant in motor-vehicle or Arts! I know NOTHING about either.

I took the last offered option which was paid garden leave- redundancy.

How did I feel?

To be honest. The moment I was told the news I was initially pissed off, then relieved. Pissed off that I was being laid off and that I had spent the last year trying to become this "Super-Teacher" and it coming to nothing. Relieved that the whole process was over and that it WAS me. I'm not sure how I would have felt if I had been selected over my other 2 colleagues  Especially as they had been vital points of reference to me over my training period. I really enjoyed my time as a teacher but I learned a lot about myself and I feel that my next employer will benefit most from this. I will miss a lot of my students and co-workers. But life goes on!

As I left the college on "Judgement Day" I already had my bag filled with copies of my CV. Ready to hand out to any restaurant or hotel I passed.

First stop was Aurora. This was very promising and did excite me but....... To be continued

Hey it's a Chromebook!

So here we are, a few days after Christmas and I the diet has started. The big spend realisation is starting to kick in. Can we afford it? What are we going to cut back on? What are we going to do different next year? Back to work and all that.
What treats did you get? Well me, I got a shiny new Samsung Chromebook from my good lady wife. I had hinted at getting one and this actually worked.
The Chromebooks are NOT for everyone as the advert may have suggested.

They are very good. I'm using it now to put this little post together for instance. And just to make things clear I LOVE IT!!! Look! It has not disk-drive  no Windows, Safari, Opera or other. Just Google Chrome. If you, like me are already set up in Google ie Docs, Play, Drive, Then you'll love it too. Only thing you'll need is Wifi to get the absolute best out of the Chromebook. Everything is browser based and is stored in "cloud" Music, docs and all.

It will not replace my PC, laptop or even the iPad. It's just a handy bit of kit if you like the Google set up, use Google Docs and want to waste time on social networking sites.... and only want to use it where Wifi exists! 

What more do you want for a couple hundred quid?

The price of injury

Went to the doctors today. This was so they could check and evaluate my injuries from my accident in July. Took longer than I anticipated but hopefully will be worth while. Have been told  that the scars will remain and not fade much more due to the nature of the cuts.
The injuries have all but healed. The scars still itch like a bastard. My knees only give me discomfort when squatting. I think most of the damage is psychological. I still am quite nervous on the road when cycling and my confidence has been smashed. Really not sure how I will react if I ever get back on the saddle.

Still just hanging there in my garage the "Dirty Bike Carcass"

Next step is to wait and see what/how much the solicitor recommends putting in a claim for. Then we wait.
Still unsure what to do with any compensation too. The option of getting a new bike is nice but the second option of investing in a new business opportunity for 2013 also appeals.
Guess I will have to wait and see.  

Injury Update

Just thought I would update anyone who is interested.
Back in July I was knocked of my bike by a car making a right turn across my right of way.
I was very fortunate in that I suffered no broken bones. But I have however now been "blessed" with some massive scars down my right arm.
I have also had a few issues with my knees. They tend to get pretty sore after a few hours on my feet. I have recently resumed running and I find that a post run ice pack works wonders for them.
I am putting in a claim for compensation which is going slowly but surely. Liability has already been admitted. So I can hope to look at getting a new bike in the new year (looking at Rose TT bike)
I have an appointment with the Solicitors' Doctor next month. Think that is where they assess the injuries and damage done.
Im looking forward to 2013. I had to withdraw from a few races which included the Vitruvian triathlon. So I have re entered this for 2013 as well as Brighton Marathon. More races will follow for sure.
Any way that's it for the moment.

Thanks Mr Obree.

Hi ya,

I would like to take a moment to thank Mr Greame Obree the world famous cyclist for helping me become the person I am today. Not entirely cycling related, although I do intend to adopt his philosophies when I resume training.

So what was it that inspired me to thank My Obree? Possibly an off the cuff/ throw away remark he made during an interview on a podcast from Velo Don Logan.  The comment went along the lines of "Practicing/training until it becomes second nature" "until it becomes as simple as picking up or reaching for a coffee cup" 

Over the last 12 months I have changed from being a chef. To now teaching cookery at the local college. The learning curve for the job has been massive. I am by no means an academic, but with every challenge thrown my way I set myself a task of repetition and focus. Training my mind until the task at hand became second nature. I recently passed a very important “Management Observation” where I found the Obree “Coffee cup mantra” looping through my head. I know this does not work for everyone, but it did for me.

So for that little nugget of wisdom, I thank you Mr Obree.

:-)

Soon as I get my Kindle Account working again I will be downloading the book. But for anyone else interested follow this link. http://www.obree.com/store.php 




PS Good luck with your next challenge.

Brix.

Still alive but...

It's been 4 weeks since I was knocked off my bicycle during a training ride. The wounds have all healed, but the scars remain. Still no bike, no running or any swimming. The knees have been pretty messed up since the wreck. Getting very sore after an hour on my feet. The weight is going up, morale is going down.
I have had to pull out of the rest of this season's races too. So no vitruvian triathlon for me now.
I was thinking about heading out for a gentle run-walk today. Will have to see how that works out and if the knees can take it.
Be safe out there. Wear a helmet when cycling. And drivers... Don't take chances with cyclists, I'm sure you can wait that extra 5 seconds to pass, overtake or turn across.