25th January 2007
Today I have to go to work.
(Silent screaming!)
I will have to stand in a classroom teaching people how to use their PCs and Microsoft for the first time in exactly six years.
And still do the school run at each end of the day.
Today's course (Basic Excel) was normally taught over a full day, but this time I have to squeeze it into three and a half hours.
It's hard to put into words how I feel about all this, – when I gave up working all those years ago due to a difficult pregnancy, I was well past my burn-out date for this type of work. As a freelancer, I used to alternate a few months training with a few months as helpdesk and support work. This helped keep me sane.
However, the final couple of years of my IT freelancing career were all of these jobs lumped together in one glorious and adventurous mission. I kept at it, although I was "close to the edge", is as it allowed me to travel all over the world, from Moscow to the Solomon Islands (but I'll save all those stories for another blog!).
So, when I finally had to resign due to health reasons, and to become a full-time mum, I swore I would NEVER go back to that work again. Ten years of IT training was enough for me.
Never say "never"...
So, words to explain how I feel... dread, frustration, anxious, irritation, horrified, yet surprisingly calm as I do know my stuff, and slightly exhilarated.
Interesting selection of students, from high-powered bosses to the "hired help" who are, frankly terrified. I separate them to alleviate their terror from being up close to the Big Boss and in doing so, have made a friend for life!
By the end of the day I am absolutely exhausted with sore feet and a sore throat from talking and 'projecting' my voice. Out of practise!
The course went well and it was actually hard to spread it over the time allowed. I've always managed to keep the course time down because I don't waste time telling the students what they don't need to know for their job. However, I used to be on a daily rate of pay, now I'm on an hourly rate, so I need to keep my hours UP!
However, all the angst with this particular job came hurtling back once I realised I'd been given the wrong information as usual. So I ended up having to have lots of meetings with various people to find out precisely what was expected and had to cancel tomorrow's course.
The upside is that I get to go out to lunch with Tim, which is lovely and something we haven't done for years.
Small world though: in January 2001, Tim and I were working in Vienna and met a rather memorable couple. I'd bumped into a guy here a couple of times who looked vaguely familiar, then spotted his wife's name on the phone list and had a lightbulb moment - it was the same couple!
Anyway, this night I stayed up until midnight rewriting all the courses for next week to incorporate what the students actually know rather than what they think they know... a big difference. I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew – it's going to be a tough week.
Think of the money... it's the only thing keeping me going!
